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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Lamb (In Early Christian Symbolism)</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08755b.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="One of the few Christian symbols dating from the first century is that of the Good Shepherd carrying on His shoulders a lamb or a sheep, with two other sheep at his side"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="08755b.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/l.htm">L</a> > The Lamb (in Early Christian Symbolism)</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>The Lamb (in Early Christian Symbolism)</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>One of the few <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> symbols <a href="../cathen/04636c.htm">dating</a> from the first century is that of the Good Shepherd carrying on His shoulders a lamb or a sheep, with two other sheep at his side. Between the first and the fourth century eighty-eight frescoes of this type were depicted in the <a href="../cathen/03417b.htm">Roman catacombs</a>.</p> <p>The signification which may be attached to this symbol, according to Wilpert's interpretation, is as follows. The lamb or sheep on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd is a symbol of the <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a> of the deceased being borne by <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Our Lord</a> into <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>; whereas the two sheep accompanying the Shepherd represent the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> already enjoying <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">eternal bliss</a>. This interpretation is in harmony with an ancient <a href="../cathen/09306a.htm">liturgical</a> <a href="../cathen/04653a.htm">prayer for the dead</a> of the following tenor: "We <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">pray</a> <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> . . . to be merciful to him in judgment, having redeemed him by His death, freed him from <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>, and reconciled him with the Father. May He be to him the Good Shepherd and carry him on His shoulders [to the fold] May He receive him in the following of the King, and grant him to participate in eternal <a href="../cathen/07131b.htm">joy</a> in the Society of the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a>" (Muratori, "Lit. Rom. Vet.", I, 751). In <a href="../cathen/03417b.htm">catacomb</a> frescoes this petition is represented as already granted; the deceased is in the company of the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a>.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>Another cycle of <a href="../cathen/03417b.htm">catacomb</a> <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">paintings</a> (not numerous) represents a lamb, or a sheep, with a milk-pail either on its back or suspended from a <a href="../cathen/04515c.htm">pastoral staff</a>. A unique fresco of this order shows a shepherd milking a sheep, while still another shows milk-pail on an altar between two sheep. The frescoes of this type (of the sheep and milk-pail) were, until recently, generally regarded as symbols of the Eucharist, but Mgr. Wilpert dissents from the received opinion, and regards all frescoes in which allusions to milk occur as symbolic of the joys of <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">Heaven</a>. Both the earlier and the later interpretations depend on a well-known text of the Acts of Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas. While in <a href="../cathen/12430a.htm">prison</a> awaiting <a href="../cathen/09736b.htm">martyrdom</a>, St. Perpetua tells us she beheld in a vision an immense garden, and in the centre thereof the tall and venerable figure of an old man in the dress of a shepherd, milking a sheep. Raising his head, he looked at me and said, 'Welcome, my daughter.' And he called me to him and he gave me of the milk. I received it with joined hands and partook of it. And all those standing around cried ' <a href="../cathen/01407b.htm">Amen</a>'. And at the sound of the voice I awoke, tasting an indescribable sweetness in my mouth." The community of <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">ideas</a> between this description and the <a href="../cathen/03417b.htm">catacomb</a> frescoes of the sheep and milk-pail is so apparent that, at first view, the current interpretations of this class of representations would seem to be obviously accurate. Wilpert, however, calls attention to the fact that the things described in the vision of St. Perpetua took place not on earth, but in <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>, where the Eucharist is no longer received . Hence he regards the frescoes of the milk-pail class as symbolic of the joys which the <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a> of the deceased possess in <a href="../cathen/14519a.htm">paradise</a>.</p> <p>The lamb, or sheep, symbol, then, of the first class described, has, in all <a href="../cathen/03417b.htm">catacomb</a> <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">paintings</a> and on sarcophagi of the fourth century, always a meaning associated with the condition of the deceased after death. But in the new era ushered in by <a href="../cathen/04295c.htm">Constantine the Great</a> the lamb appears in the art of the <a href="../cathen/02325a.htm">basilicas</a> with an entirely new signification. The general scheme of apsidal <a href="../cathen/10584a.htm">mosaic</a> decoration in the <a href="../cathen/02325a.htm">basilicas</a> that everywhere sprang into existence after the conversion of Constantine, conformed in the main to that described by St. Paulinus as existing in the Basilica of St. Felix at <a href="../cathen/11089b.htm">Nola</a>. "The Trinity gleams in its full mystery", the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saint</a> tells us. "Christ is represented in the form of a lamb; the voice of the Father thunders from <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>; and through the dove the Holy Spirit is poured out. The Cross is encompassed by a circle of light as by a crown. The crown of this crown are the apostles themselves, who are represented by a choir of doves. The Divine unity of the Trinity is summarized in Christ. The Trinity has at the same time Its own emblems; <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> is represented by the paternal voice, and by the Spirit; the Cross and the Lamb denote the Holy Victim. The purple background and the palms indicate royalty and triumph. Upon the rock he stands Who is the Rock of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, from which flow the four murmuring springs, the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelists</a>, living rivers of Christ" (St. Paulinus, "Ep. xxxii, ad Severum", sect. 10, P.L. LXI, 336). The Divine Lamb was usually represented in apsidal <a href="../cathen/10584a.htm">mosaics</a> standing on the mystic mount whence flow the four streams of <a href="../cathen/14519a.htm">Paradise</a> symbolizing the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelists</a>; twelve sheep six on either side, were further represented, coming from the cities of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> and Bethlehem (indicated by small houses at the extremities of the scenes) and proceeding towards the lamb. The lower zone, no longer in existence, of the famous fourth-century <a href="../cathen/10584a.htm">mosaic</a> in the <a href="../cathen/03041a.htm">church</a> of St. Pudenziana, <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, originally represented the lamb on the mountain and probably also the twelve sheep; the existing sixth-century <a href="../cathen/01659a.htm">apse</a> <a href="../cathen/10584a.htm">mosaic</a> of Sts. Cosmas and Damian at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> gives a good <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> of the manner in which this subject was represented.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>According to the <a href="../cathen/09224a.htm">"Liber Pontificalis"</a>, <a href="../cathen/04295c.htm">Constantine the Great</a> presented to the Lateran <a href="../cathen/02276b.htm">baptistery</a>, which he founded, a golden <a href="../cathen/13641b.htm">statue</a> of a lamb pouring water which was placed between two silver <a href="../cathen/13641b.htm">statues</a> of Christ and <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">St. John the Baptist</a>; the <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">Baptist</a> is represented holding a scroll inscribed with the words: "Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi." From the fifth century the head of the lamb began to be encircled by the nimbus. Several monuments also show the lamb with its head surmounted by various forms of the Cross; one monument discovered by <a href="../cathen/15501b.htm">de Vogüé</a> in Central <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a> shows the lamb with the Cross on its back.</p> <p>The next step in the development of this <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> of associating the Cross with the lamb was depicted in a sixth-century <a href="../cathen/10584a.htm">mosaic</a> of the <a href="../cathen/13369b.htm">Vatican Basilica</a> which represented the lamb standing on a throne, at the foot of a Cross studded with gems. From the pierced side of this lamb, blood flowed into a <a href="../cathen/03561a.htm">chalice</a> whence again it issued in five streams, thus recalling <a href="../cathen/15714a.htm">Christ's five wounds</a>. Finally, another sixth-century monument, now forming part of the <a href="../cathen/03767a.htm">ciborium</a> of St. Mark's, <a href="../cathen/15333a.htm">Venice</a>, presents a crucifixion scene with the two thieves nailed to the cross, while Christ is represented as a lamb, standing erect at the junction of the crossbeams. One of the most interesting monument showing the Divine Lamb in various characters is the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (d. 358). In four of the spandrils between the niches of</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li>raising <a href="../cathen/09096a.htm">Lazarus</a>, by means of a rod, from the <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">tomb</a>;</li><li>being <a href="../cathen/02258b.htm">baptized</a> by another lamb, with dove dominating the scene;</li><li>multiplying loaves, in two baskets, by the touch of a rod;</li><li>joining three other lambs.</li></ul></div> <p>Two other scenes show a lamb receiving the Tables of the Law on <a href="../cathen/14011a.htm">Mount Sinai</a> and striking a rock whence issues a stream of water. Thus in this series, the lamb is a symbol, not only of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>, but also of Moses, the <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">Baptist</a>, and the Three Children in the fiery furnace. The fresco the cemetery of Praetextatus, showing Susanna as a lamb between two wolves (the elders), is another example of the lamb as symbol of one of the ordinary faithful.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Hassett, M.</span> <span id="apayear">(1910).</span> <span id="apaarticle">The Lamb (in Early Christian Symbolism).</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08755b.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Hassett, Maurice.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"The Lamb (in Early Christian Symbolism)."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 8.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1910.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08755b.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael C. Tinkler.</span> <span id="dedication"></span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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