A Paleochristian Bronze Lampada Featuring Ss. Peter and Paul

(Image source)

Saints Peter and Paul are two of the most important and beloved saints and apostles in the entire Christian Church. Given their particular prominence in the 'college of the apostles,' from the earliest of times we can find a strong devotion to them, a devotion which has been manifest in multiple instances across multiple mediums of paleochristian art, from extant catacomb frescoes and gilded glassworks, to ancient metalwork. 

Today we are going to consider a lamp (lampada) that was found in Rome and now housed in Florence's Museo Archeologico Nazionale. The lamp in question is made from bronze and dates to circa A.D. 390-410. The lamp comes in the form of boat with the two arms from which the wicks would protrude found on the one side of the boat. It is thought that originally the lamp may have been intended as a standing lamp as it has a flat base, but evidently at some point in the objects history, chains were added to allow it to be suspended. 

The boat itself is a symbol of the Church and on the boat we find two figures believed to represent Ss. Peter and Paul. The figure seated in the stern (i.e. rear) of the ship is dressed in a tunic and pallium and has the facial features we would traditionally associate with the Apostle Paul.  The figure on the bow of the ship likewise wears a tunic and pallium with the facial attributes traditionally given to St. Peter, his arms raised up in an "orans" posture of prayer. 

On the top of the mast of the ship is plaque which contains an engraved dedicatory inscription which readers as follows:

DOMINVS LEGEM

DAT VALERIO SEVERO

EVTROPI VIVAS 

Loosely speaking, this translates as "The Lord gives the law to Valerius Severus. Eutropius, may you live long." (Eutropius here, it is thought, may have been Valerius Severus's baptismal name.) 

The practical use of this object is, of course, to provide light, and the imagery here is fairly poignant. The lit flame that provides light are also symbolic of life and the truth of the Christian faith, founded on the Law of Christ that is taught by the apostles and continues to be taught by the Church, represented by the boat. All in one then we find an object that is both practically useful and symbolically poignant and catechetical. 

The lampada was discovered in Rome during excavations on the Caelian Hill that were undertaken in the time of the pontificate of Clement X (+1676), 

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