Wooden Door
Appia Antica, Aventino, Ostiense
- Location: Wooden Door
It is the oldest known door of a christian church, made at the time of the churches construction (422-432) and reaching us today with minimal additions from the Eleventh Century and successive restorations. Today, 18 of the 28 original panels remain intact, depicting Scenes of the Old and New Testaments, attributed to a classical-hellenistic master working with popular motifs of late antiquity.
THINGS TO KNOW: The scene with the Crucifixion and the Two Thieves represents the first time that this scene was depicted, which would become one of the most repeated portrayals in art history. It should be remembered that in the first centuries of Christianity, the episode of the martyrdom of Christ placed in its historical setting was never depicted out of respect for Christ.
