The Good Shepherd

Images of a youthful shepherd standing among his flock and carrying a sheep over his shoulders were popular with Romans of traditional faith as well as Christians living in the Late Roman Empire. Painted on the walls or the ceiling of a burial chamber or carved on a marble sarcophagus, this image might simply invoke the deceased’s hope for a peaceful afterlife spent in a pastoral setting. For Christians, this traditional Roman image took on a more specific meaning. It could be understood to refer to the passage in the Gospel according to John in which Christ said of himself: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11). Allegedly found together with the Jonah statuettes, it is indeed likely that this figure represents Christ as the Good Shepherd.