Archaeologists Find Oldest Paintings of Apostles in Roman Catacombs

Archaeologists Find Oldest Paintings of Apostles in Roman Catacombs

www.foxnews.com

The earliest known icons of the Apostles Peter and Paul have been discovered in a catacomb under an eight-story modern office building in a working-class neighborhood of Rome, Vatican officials said Tuesday.

The images, which date from the second half of the 4th century, were discovered on the ceiling of a tomb that also includes the earliest known images of the apostles John and Andrew. They were uncovered using a new laser technique that allowed restorers to burn off centuries of thick whit

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This is awesome, if you ask me. Apparently, two very old paintings of the Apostles Peter and Paul were found in a catacomb near the Vatican. The paintings date all the way back to the second half of the 4th century, making them the oldest paintings of the Apostles known to exist.

It's pretty hard to believe that this kind of treasure could remain hidden so long. If these paintings were just found, could you imagine what else is out there, just waiting to be found?

--airspoon


Edited to add photos:

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www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 23-6-2010 by airspoon]

That's crazy. I can't wait until paintings of them from the early 1st century AD are found in Rome. That would not only let us know essentially what they looked like but bring more evidence to their crucifixions in Rome.

Imagine finding something of this sort of Mary Magdalene in France? Then # would really hit the fan.

Probably have been known about for eons but not revealed. The church, i'm sure saves treasures like these only to be revealed at a time to reinforced the faith.

....Vatican officials said in opening up the tomb to the media for the first time.

Could be paintings of anyone really.

Originally posted by spearhead
Probably have been known about for eons but not revealed. The church, i'm sure saves treasures like these only to be revealed at a time to reinforced the faith.

....Vatican officials said in opening up the tomb to the media for the first time.

Could be paintings of anyone really.

Good point. I can only imagine the treasures the Vatican holds. Begs the question, why doesn't Wikileaks leak anything about this if it really wants to spread truth? Either means there is nothing to be leaked, or the more obvious answer...

Originally posted by spearhead
Probably have been known about for eons but not revealed. The church, i'm sure saves treasures like these only to be revealed at a time to reinforced the faith.

....Vatican officials said in opening up the tomb to the media for the first time.

Could be paintings of anyone really.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.. lets hope they'll open up their spoilsofwar vault next to distract people from other church "issues".

When the Roman empire was losing control they figured a change in religion would keep them the same powers. So they had a smear campaign of all the old gods and decided that according to the new religion they were demons.

I imagine now that monotheism is dying slowly they need a new religion to unite the world. And how to do that, but the exact same method. Disparage the old gods... Im sure soon enough they'll 'discover' some more artifacts that disprove Christianity in some way. How do I know, its written as a plan in the Bible, Romes great plan... where the Vatican would crumble.

Jeez Im starting to sound like Protoplasmic Traveler again.

Originally posted by spearhead
Probably have been known about for eons but not revealed. The church, i'm sure saves treasures like these only to be revealed at a time to reinforced the faith.

....Vatican officials said in opening up the tomb to the media for the first time.

Could be paintings of anyone really.

I could see that happening, however I'm sure they are Apostles as there are historical and archeological clues to suggest these sorts of things. If experts are saying that these are Apostles, then I'm inclined to believe them, as these things usually aren't limited to guess work or "hunches" but rather sound historical and archeological research. However, if it is only the church making these claims, then I'd be suspicious.

--airspoon

Edited to add: I just added more photos to the OP. It's definitely worth a look.

[edit on 23-6-2010 by airspoon]

These are very old paintings - and I salute the people who restored them - but they could be anyone.

No proof.

LOL the pictures look funny i want to do a commentary for them all, only cause its from fox news:

Picture 1: "Behold the most magnificent revealing". Light shines on the painting and guy in the background says Quick shine light here so that everyone can see this is Paul.

Picture 2:
As you can clearly see by the second picture this is Paul up close and personal!

Picture 3:
Guy pointing is saying "Get this picture make sure everyone can see this Paul"

Picture 4: Guy pointing " As you can see by this picture it is Peter and his companions.

Picture 5: Peter and Paul as you have always known them to look like.

reply to post by Applesandoranges


YES, that is so funny.

They could be space people for all we know.

Originally posted by catwhoknows
reply to post by Applesandoranges

 

YES, that is so funny.

They could be space people for all we know.

It could be self portraits of the Romans themselves hehe.

For whatever it's worth their skin is fairly dark...


Anyways good an interesting find.

Fox did a good job at finding this.

Great find Spoon!
i dont know what keeps you going but day after day you keep producing these little gems, G_D (whichever you prefer) bless you friend!

~meathead

Now we need to find the holy grail . Wonder what else they found in the room that has been removed before the media got there

I wonder exactly where this is in the city and what significance the location might have with historical events. In other words, what's the painting doing there?

--airspoon

If you think about it, those paintings are probably reflect the look of the Apstles accurately, since it was only a few hundred years later. At least it is accurate to their dress, race and general look, although maybe even down to the personal details because the artists could have been going from older portraits.

Originally posted by catwhoknows
These are very old paintings - and I salute the people who restored them - but they could be anyone.

No proof.

Experts have ways to determine who they are or who they aren't. Little clues that would be foreign to the lay person. If the experts are confident that these are paintings of Peter and Paul, then I'm sure they aren't taking wild guess but rather they probably have valid and convincing reasons.

--airspoon

Sorry but I'm not buying it. I actually laughed when I saw the pictures. You expect me to believe that the apostles were white European men in darkest Africa 2000 years ago. Preaching to Africans. Man they'll never let go of the lies...

reply to post by ISHAMAGI


Paul was not only Jewish, but he was a Roman Citizen. Where in Africa was he supposed to be from or even "be"? Are you suggesting that he was African? What on earth would make you think he is African? In fact, Paul was from Tarsus, modern day Turkey. I think Paul has a better chance of being Martian, than he does being African.

--airspoon

[edit on 23-6-2010 by airspoon]