Image Details

Scala/Art Resource, NY

The Adelphia sarcophagus pictures the Annunciation on the left side of its lid. With pitcher in hand, Mary leans toward a water source that is personified as a large bearded face. Behind her stands the angel Gabriel, whose hand is raised in a speaking gesture. Other Biblical scenes are depicted on the marble sarcophagus, as well as a likeness of Adelphia, the deceased, and her husband Comes Valerius in the center. Francesco Saverio Cavallari found the sarcophagus at St. John’s Catacombs in Siracusa, Italy, in 1872. An inscription on the lid identifies the deceased.