Catacombs of Priscilla, the first image of Mary in history

The Catacombs of Priscilla, the oldest Christian cemetery in Rome

The Catacombs of Priscilla, situated on the Via Salaria in Rome, constitute the underground Christian funerary complex of the greatest antiquity and mariological importance in the world. Excavated from the second century and used until the fifth century, they house more than forty thousand graves distributed over approximately thirteen kilometers of galleries. The name comes from the Roman family of the Acilii Glabriones, whose members, among them the matron Priscilla, ceded their land to the Christian community of Rome for funerary use. Tradition also associates the name with the Priscilla mentioned by Saint Paul (Rom 16:3), a fellow worker of the apostle.

For Mariology, the Catacombs of Priscilla have a unique and irreplaceable value: they house the oldest known iconographic representation of Mary, the so-called Mater Domina (2nd-3rd century), which precedes by more than a century all the other Marian images that have been preserved. This fresco, discovered in the Capella Greca, shows Mary seated with the Child on her lap, while a prophet, probably Isaiah, points to a star, a reference to the prophecy of Is 7:14 (“the virgin shall conceive”). The iconographic composition establishes from the outset the link between Old Testament typology and the historical person of Mary.

The Mater Domina, the first image of Mary in history

The fresco of the Mater Domina in the Catacombs of Priscilla is dated by specialists to between the end of the second century and the beginning of the third. The iconography combines three fundamental elements: Mary seated in a frontal position (a position of authority in Roman art), the Child Jesus on her lap with a gesture of blessing, and a male figure who points to a star. Scholars such as André Grabar and Enrico Josi interpreted the prophet as Isaiah and the star as the fulfillment of the messianic promise. This typological reading, which sees in Mary the fulfillment of the almah of Isaiah 7:14, constitutes the basis of all later Marian iconography.

Mater Domina, “Mother of the Lord,” is the iconographic equivalent of the Theotókos, which the community of Alexandria would develop in dogmatic terms in the same period. The priority of the artistic expression over the dogmatic definition is significant: the faith of the early Christian community in Mary as Mother of God precedes its conciliar formulation (Ephesus, 431). The Catacombs of Priscilla are, therefore, the oldest document of this lived faith.

Other Marian frescoes in the Catacombs of Priscilla

Besides the Mater Domina, the Catacombs of Priscilla preserve other frescoes of mariological relevance. In the Capella Greca there is likewise an Annunciation, considered the oldest representation of this Gospel episode, in which the archangel Gabriel bows before Mary, who is seated. The hierarchical arrangement of the figures and the gesture of the angel reproduce conventions of imperial Roman art, indicating that the first Christians adapted the visual languages of their time in order to express the newness of the faith.

Another relevant fresco represents the Fractio Panis, the breaking of the eucharistic bread, in which a female figure presides at the meal, interpreted by some specialists as a reference to the praying community that gathered under the protection of Mary. This ecclesial reading, which associates Mary with the Church gathered around the Eucharist, anticipates the doctrine that the Second Vatican Council would formulate in chapter VIII of Lumen Gentium.

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Discover the oldest Marian image in the Catacomb of Priscilla.