The Good Shepherd
Unknown Artist
280–90 CE
Medium
marble
Dimensions
49.5 × 26 × 16.2 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1965.241
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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 refe...