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The Hypogeum of the Aurelii that dates back to the third century A.D., is one of the most important funerary complexes of imperial Rome. It was discovered in 1919 during the works for the construction of a garage. The richness and variety of the paintings in the Hypogeum that depict scenes belonging both to the pagan and the Christian world, have caused problems of interpretation to the scholars that are still open today. The Hypogeum consists of a lower level with two rooms dug out of the tuff and of an upper level with a walled chamber. A staircase gives access to an upper chamber that presents various scenes in arched niches: Adam and Eve (or Heracles in the garden of the Hesperides, according to a more recent interpretation), Demiurge and four figures of professors or philosophers that illustrate the divine law to their students. Scenes of cities are painted in the lunettes.Going down to a still lower level, on the left of the staircase there is a hall with mosaic flooring bearing the names of the owners of the Hypogeum. Figures wearing togas (apostles or prophets of the Church) and various scenes are painted on the walls: a bearded character in the act of reading a scroll with a flock of sheep grazing at his feet (perhaps the representation of Jesus’ speech on the mountain); a man galloping on a horse in front of a temple, followed by several figures and greeted by a group of persons that come out of a city to meet him; a figure dressed in a white tunic that seems to be judging some persons and, next to the gates to the city, other figures dressed in white; a banquet with thirteen people seated around a table and a scene depicting Ulysses’ return to Itacha. The checkered ceiling contains figures wearing togas, imaginary animals and geniuses and the Good Shepherd is depicted in the central square. The walls of the room on the right are checkered and show a figure in the center holding a scroll and a rod in his hand; in the center of the vault an old man performs exorcisms on an initiate assisted by a figure that holds the scroll of the laws. Twelve persons are depicted in the lunettes of the niches and everywhere the presence of imaginary animals, geniuses and peafowls symbolize the immortality of the soul. The funerary use of the Hypogeum terminated with the construction of the Aurelian Walls between the years 270 and 275 A.D.: the complex was included within the new city walls where burials were forbidden by the law.

Notes: Visit upon request.