The “Dogmatic Sarcophagus”: Detail, Adam and Eve
On the left God creates Eve from Adam's rib. Unusually, God is pictured as three bearded men of very similar appearance. This is the first known instance of a representation of the Trinity.
The scene on the right shows God assigning the work of farming and spinning to Adam and Eve. It is virtually identical to the
corresponding scene on the Sarcophagus of Adelphia in Syracuse, Sicily and to
another on Sarcophagus 31551 in the Pio Cristiano. Please follow the link to the latter scene for a complete discussion of this iconographic type.
View this image in full resolution.
View the entire sarcophagus frontal.
Read more about the Trinity.
Photographed at the Museo Pio Cristiano by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.