 |
| Cella Septichora |
The early Christian necropolis of Sopianae, as Pécs was then called, contains a series of tombs that are richly decorated with murals. They were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.
?The burial chambers and memorial chapels of the Sopianae cemetery bear outstanding testimony to the strength and faith of the Christian communities of Late Roman Europe,? according to the inscription justification. ?The unique Early Christian sepulchral art and architecture of the northern and western Roman provinces is exceptionally well and fully illustrated by the [cemetery],? it adds.
The conference will open on Thursday with welcome speeches by Bishop György Udvardy and Róbert Somos of University of Pécs?s Centre for Patristic Studies. After a visit to the World Heritage exhibition, Zsolt Visy will speak on the theme of the Paradise in the cemetery and Olivér Gábor will give a presentation on early Christian buildings in Sopianae. Talks by Allen Brent on Klauser?s methodological perspective in his interpretation of early Christian artefacts, and by Eileen Rubery and Rita Sutherland on the motif of the orant, a figure in a posture of prayer, in Christian art will follow. Marianne Sághy will deliver a talk entitled ?Word and Image: Poetic and Pictorial Representations of Martyrs in Late Antique Funerary Art?.
György Heidl will start the Friday conference programme with remarks on the iconography of a specific example in the cemetery of Sopianae. Péter Csigi will speak about iconographic approaches to the early Christian artefacts in Sopianae, and a paper on technical observations on the paintings of St. Peter and Paul in the burial chamber will be read. István Bugár will give a talk called ?Theology on Images?? and Markus Vinzent will speak about the theme of Christ?s resurrection in early Christian art.
The presentations at the conference will be published in a volume with the support of the University of London?s King?s College.
Attila Üveges, of conference organiser Zsolnay Örökségkezelő Nonprofit, said the early Christian cemetery or Pécs sparked the interest of a number of European universities, but without the appropriate professional literature in English, theses institutions could get only an overview of the necropolis.
?Early Christian Art: An International Conference with special regard to the early Christian Cemetery in Sopianae? is co-organised by the Cella Septichora Visitor Centre and University of Pécs, Centre for Patristic Studies.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
