Crispina and Her Sisters: Women and Authority in Early Christianity

by Christine Schenk

Overview

Discovering reliable information about women in early Christianity is a challenging enterprise. Most people have never heard of Bitalia, Veneranda, Crispina, Petronella, Leta, Sofia the Deacon, and many others even though their catacomb and tomb art suggests their authority was influential and valued by early Christian communities. This book explores visual imagery found on burial artifacts of prominent early Christian women. It carefully situates the tomb art within the cultural context of customary Roman commemorations of the dead. Recent scholarship about Roman portrait sarcophagi and the interpretation of early Christian art is also given significant attention. An in-depth review of women‘s history in the first four centuries of Christianity provides important context. A fascinating picture emerges of women‘s authority in the early church, a picture either not available or sadly distorted in the written history. It is often said "a picture is worth a thousand words." The portrait tombs of fourth-century Christian women suggest that they viewed themselves and/or their loved ones viewed them as persons of authority with religious influence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506411880
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	12/15/2017
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Christine Schenk, CSJ, is a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, a Roman Catholic religious order, and the retired cofounder of FutureChurch, an international coalition of parish-centered Catholics working for full participation of all Catholics in church life and leadership. Currently, her award-winning column Simply Spirit appears regularly in the National Catholic Reporter. She is one of three nuns featured in the critically acclaimed recent documentary Radical Grace, chronicling the sisters' work for justice in church and society.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Abbreviations xiii

Introduction xv

1 Women and Early Christianity: Sociocultural Context 1

2 Women and Early Christianity: Female Authority Opposed 51

3 Interpreting Early Christian Art 99

4 Women in Catacomb Frescos and Inscriptions 121

5 Commemorating the Dead: Roman Funerary Customs and Practices 159

6 Crispina and Her Sisters: Portraits on Christian Sarcophagi 195

7 More Portraits on Christian Sarcophagi 287

8 Women and Authority in the Fourth Century: Integrating the Literary Evidence 329

Appendix A In Pace Inscriptions (n=36) 371

Appendix B Christian Portraits with Uncertain/Unclear Facial Features (n=113) 373

Appendix C Tables 6.5 and 6.8: Christian Portraits by Type and Statistical Analysis of Solo Male and Female Portraits 379

Appendix D Table 6.9: Portrait Figures with Scrolls or Capses by Gender with Statistical Computations 387

Appendix E Table 6.11: Statistical Computations for Orans-Only Portrait Figures by Gender 393

Appendix F Table 6.10: Summary of Statistical Outcomes for All Learned Portraits, Including Orans, Scroll, and Capsa Depictions 397

Appendix G Table 6.12: Speech Gestures on Christian Portraits and Statistical Outcomes 401

Appendix H Table 6.13: Both Scroll and Speech Motifs by Gender with Statistical Outcomes 405

Appendix I Table 6.14: Statistical Computations for Scroll-Speech Iconography as a Representation of Religious Authority 409

Appendix J Table 6.15: Listing of All Portraits with In-Facing "Apostle" Figures by Gender with Statistical Computations 411

Appendix K Table 6.16: Christ Reliefs with In-Facing "Apostle" Motifs and a Comparison of In-Facing 'Apostle" Characteristics on Portraits with In-Facing "Apostle" Characteristics on Christ Portrayals 419

Appendix L Table 6.17: List of Images for Scroll-Capsa Learned Portraits with In-Facing "Apostle" Figure with Statistical Computations 425

Appendix M Table 7.1: Portraits of Couples (n=64) 429

Appendix N Listing of Dates of Christian Portrait Sarcophagi 433

Bibliography 437

Index 451