The Good Ram-bearer

The Great Pastoral Sarcophagus , c.300 CE (Pius-Christian Museum, Vatican City) The Good Ram-bearer The Fourth Sunday of Easter is often known as Good Shepherd Sunday on account of the Psalm, Epistle, and Gospel appointed for the day. In them, we hear Jesus described as the Good Shepherd who looks after and knows each and every one of his sheep, protecting them from robbers and strangers. The c.4th Great Pastoral Sarcophagus is the original resting place of an unknown (but clearly very wealthy) Roman Christian. In the middle are several tableaux depicting various scenes from an idealized, rural setting: grazing sheep, fighting rams, vine dressing, and ploughing. These scenes are flanked by two large figures. On the right, we see a figure often found on Paleo-Christian sarcophagi--a lady holding up her hands in the orans (praying) position. On the left, there is a man in a kriophoros (ram-bearer) pose--a popular Graeco-Roman statue type which portrays a youth taking a ra