Some experts believe that newly uncovered image, deep in the catacombs of Rome, Italy, are the oldest St. Paul image found to date.
The image that is alleged to be the Christian apostle Paul, is that of a man with sharp features, large dark eyes, a receding hairline and a long pointed beard set in a red circle which is set in a yellow circle. The fresco dates back to the 4th century and was discovered during restoration work at the Catacomb of St. Thekla. The catacomb is a Christian burial place close to the Basilica of St. Paul out of the walls in Rome. St. Thekla was said to have been a Roman follower of Paul who was put to death by the Emperor Diocletian. It has been said that her tomb had been built over the location where St. Paul was buried.
Barbara Mazzei, the director of the work at the Catacomb, said:
“We had been working in the Catacomb for some time and it is full of frescoes.
“However the pictures are all covered with limestone which was covering up much of the artwork and so to remove it and clean it up we had to use fine lasers.
“The result was exceptional because from underneath all the dirt and grime we saw for the first time in 1600 years the face of Saint Paul in a very good condition.
“It was easy to see that it was Saint Paul because the style matched the iconography that we know existed at around the 4th Century – that is the thin face and the dark beard.
“It is a sensational discovery and is of tremendous significance. This is then first time that a single image of Saint Paul in such good condition has been found and it is the oldest one known of.
“Traditionally in Christian images of St Paul he is always alongside St Peter but in this icon he was on his own and what is also significant is the fact that St Paul’s Basilica is just a few minutes walk away.
“It is my opinion that the fresco we have discovered was based on the fact that St Paul’s Basilica was close by, there was a shrine to him there at that site since the 3rd Century.
“This fresco is from the early part of the 4th Century while before the earliest were from the later part and examples have been found in the Catacombs of Domitilla.”
The discovery wasn’t announced for ten days while Vatican archaeologists used lasers to clean layers of grime that accumulated on the image over the centuries. It was announced through their official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. Officials hope to be able to put the ancient artwork on display later this year, but for now the Catacomb of St. Thekla is sealed off from the public while work on it continues.
In addition to this remarkable discovery, Pope Benedict XVI announced today that scientific tests on remains that have been thought to be St. Paul’s body seem to conclude that they are indeed, the remains of St. Paul.
“A tiny hole was made to introduce a probe” which led to the retrieval of “minuscule bone fragments, and carbon dating showed they belonged to someone who lived between the first and the second century,” the pope said. “This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the apostle Paul.”
The tomb in which the remains and the image are contained is enormous, so actually opening the sarcophagus would be an extremely difficult job and would probably result in destroying the altar. No decisions have been made about attempting to take that step.
St. Paul’s story is the extraordinary story of a Roman Jew who began his life as ‘Saul’, who persecuted Christians. He was converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus, when he was temporarily blinded with a vision of Jesus Christ. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, born in Tarsus located in what is now Turkey.
You can see a picture of the 0ldest St. Paul image found image here.