The Iconography of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus: Neofitus Iit Ad Deum

Carved for a Roman city prefect who was a newly baptized Christian at his death, the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus is not only a magnificent example of the fine style of mid-fourth-century sculpture but also a treasury of early Christian iconography clearly indicating the Christianization of Rome–and the Romanization of Christianity. Whereas most