Pius-Christian Museum

A sarcophagus is a stone coffin, but its carved surface can be crowded with stories. In the Pius-Christian Museum, compare how figures are arranged. Some subjects unfold along one continuous band. Others appear in two rows or in separate spaces framed by columns. The collection concentrates on evidence of early Christian communities, especially sculpture from the third to the fifth centuries. It includes objects found in catacombs and material that had later been reused in churches and elsewhere in Rome. Pope Pius IX founded the museum at the Lateran in 1854. Two early organizers, the Jesuit scholar Giuseppe Marchi and archaeologist Giovanni Battista De Rossi, grouped works by their imagery and biblical themes. The Good Shepherd and stories of Jonah are among the subjects you can follow. De Rossi also arranged inscriptions by theme or origin. The collection moved to the Vatican in 1963 and reopened here in 1970. Its carved stories preserve choices made for the commemoration of the dead.