Coming out of fourth century Roman workshops were a series of decorative glasswork referred to as the golden or gilded glasses. These glassworks come from the paleochristian period and contain various depictions of Christian imagery, particularly the depiction of popular Roman saints such as Ss. Peter and Paul, St. Agnes and St. Lawrence as well as other biblical scenes. These decorative works, discovered in the Roman catacombs, typically originate within the fourth century A.D. and showcase for us some of the earliest Christian devotions and imagery that were coming out of the early period when Christianity was first legalized within the Roman Empire.
The Vatican Museums provide us with some further historical background:
This specific form of glass production, which took place in Rome in the third and in particular the fourth centuries A.D., is characterized by decorations in gold leaf, mainly Christian subjects (although Pagan and Jewish themes, as well as family portraits, are also found), enclosed between two layers of glass at the base ... of plates or cups, or in the form of small “bubbles” of coloured glass, positioned to adorn the walls of glass containers. In the earliest phase (third century A.D.), fully-fledged medallions, with predominantly blue backgrounds and very refined portraits produced in gold and silver leaf, were attributed to Alexandrine workers possibly active in Rome. Prestigious gifts in public and private celebrations, the “golden glasses” were found mainly in catacombs where, reused as ornaments for tombs, they were attached to the mortar used to close burial niches.
These images were created by etching images in gold leaf which were set between two glass plates, often forming the bottoms of drinking vessels or other bowls within Christian Roman households. These were in turn frequently affixed to the tombs of these Christian Romans as a way of decorating and marking their graves -- which is is why they have been found within the Roman catacombs.
Their particular interest for us is less their specific domestic and eventual funerary uses, but rather as a document which tells us about early Christian Rome, its piety and devotion to the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the way in which they envisioned and depicted these saints.
With all that in mind, we present a small sampling of just some of these impressive paleochristian glasses.
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| Ss. Peter and Paul with a column bearing the Chi-Rho Christogram. Late fourth century. Taken from the base of bowl. Collection of the British Museum. |
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| Ss. Peter and Paul shown holding scrolls. |
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| Ss. Peter and Paul crowned by Christ with laurel crowns of martyrdom. |
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| Ss. Peter and Paul with jewelled crown above them. Second half of fourth century A.D. Collection of the Musei Vaticani. |
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| Ss. Peter and Paul with Christ in the centre |
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| Ss. Peter and Paul |
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| Ss. Peter and Paul with St. Agnes between |
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| Ss. Peter and Paul with the Virgin Mary |
In addition to our examples of Ss. Peter and Paul, we can also find many other examples with other saints, as well as imagery taken from both the Old and New Testaments. Here is just a small selection of some which I think will be of interest.
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| St. Agnes shown living up her arms in a posture of prayer. |
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| Fragment showing St. Lawrence |
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| The Blessed Virgin Mary |
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| The Roman martyrs Sixtus and Timothy being crowned by Christ with laurel crowns of martyrdom. |
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| The Raising of Lazarus |
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| Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes showing the Chi-Rho, representing Christ, and two disciples with the remaining loaves of bread that were collected. |
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| The Sacrifice of Abraham |
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