Early+Church+Art

__ART CAPTION:__ Good Shepherd. Early Christian Sculpture, marble. Vatican Museum, Rome, circa 300 AD. __ART DESCRIPTION:__ The **statues** found in the catacombs predominantly are of Jesus, represented as the Good Shepherd. The artistic model was the pagan figure of //Orpheus//, with the flute to his side and a lamb over his shoulder. Although the Christians did not adorn the catacombs with the miriad of statues the pagans had, they did adapt //Orpheus// to represent Jesus as the Good Sheperd: "I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep knows me."