t inadvertently, these caps were changed into crowns. The four
evangelists are constantly represented either as four rolls of papyrus,
or as four fountains issuing from a hill beneath the feet of Christ.
When seen in the guise of the four apocalyptical animals, they belong to
a later period. The apostles also are found on ancient coffins,
surrounding Christ, at whose left side Peter is placed, whilst Paul
stands on his right. They all wear sandals tied with ribbon to their
feet. Some paintings represent scenes of early Christian life, the
sacred rites of the Church, and the love-feasts of the first Christians.

Wherever our Saviour is found he is represented by two types. In the
earliest paintings of the catacombs he appears as a beardless youth:
this type of the Saviour was produced under the influence of antique
art. The second and later type bears those oriental features which have
been transmitted by sacred painting even to our own time. The features
of the second face so closely resemble those of the first that the early
theologians do not hesitate to proclaim them exact copies of the
original. "Christ was well proportioned," says John of Damascus in the
eighth century; "his fingers were slender, his nose mighty, and the
eyebrows joined above the same; his hair was very curly, his beard
black, and the colour of his face like his mother's,--viz. yellowish,
like unto wheat." Later western writers change the colour of the beard
and hair from black to blond. Both hair and beard are parted in the
middle. There are two pictures of Christ thus represented, one in the
cemetery of S. Calintus, and another in that of S. Ponziano. The former
is partly, the latter wholly dressed. In both, the features are strongly
marked, and the eyes are very large; the right hand is placed on the
breast, whilst the left holds a book.

Apocryphal pictures ascribed to Saint Luke have asserted a considerable
influence upon the traditions concerning the portrait of Christ. The
same has happened in the instance of the Virgin Mary, although her type
is far from attaining the degree of stability which we find in the
representations of her divine son. The fathers, however, are unanimous
in their opinion that the face of Mary bore a strong resemblance to that
of our Saviour. She is seldom found in the Catacombs, but frequently in
the Mosaic work of churches dedicated to her worship, and on Byzantine
coins from the tenth century forwards. The face is