Unique Good Shepherd fresco found in Anatolia

"An elaborately frescoed tomb featuring the only depiction of Christ as the Good Shepherd in Early Christian Anatolia has been discovered in ancient Nicea, present-day Iznik, Turkey. While no artifacts were found inside to narrow down its date, its architectural style comparable to other tombs suggest it dates to the 3rd century A.D. The tomb was found in the Hisardere Necropolis, a burial ground just outside the ancient city's fortifications that was in use from the 2nd through the 5th centuries A.D."

"The frescoed tomb was a hypogeum, a subterranean chamber dug out from the soil. The south wall of the tomb was destroyed, but the east, west and north walls are intact, as is the barrel-vaulted ceiling. They are all covered in vividly colored frescoes of flowers, birds, swirl patterns, thick red borders and human figures. This is the first example of Christian figural art found in the Hisardere Necropolis."

"The central fresco adorns the north wall behind the kline, the funerary bed composed of square terracotta tiles where the deceased were laid to rest. The vaulted ceiling creates a semicircular panel arching over the kline that is decorated with a figure of a youthful, beardless Jesus standing with a ram draped over his shoulders. Pairs of goats stand in the greenery on each side of him."

The tomb was unearthed in the Hisardere Necropolis outside ancient Nicea (modern Iznik), a cemetery used from the 2nd through the 5th centuries AD. The subterranean hypogeum shows architectural parallels to other local tombs that indicate a probable 3rd-century date despite the absence of datable artifacts. The barrel-vaulted chamber preserves vividly colored frescoes of flowers, birds, swirl patterns, red borders and human figures. The central north-wall fresco above the kline depicts a youthful, beardless Jesus standing with a ram over his shoulders, flanked by goats in greenery. The west wall portrays a married aristocratic couple, and the find constitutes the first example of Christian figural art recorded at Hisardere.

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