Source: Associated Press
Lasers uncover first icons of St. Peter and Paul
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 22, 2010; 4:16 PM
ROME — Twenty-first century laser technology has opened a window into the early days of the Catholic Church, guiding researchers through the dank, musty catacombs beneath Rome to a startling find: the first known icons of the apostles Peter and Paul.
Vatican officials unveiled the paintings Tuesday, discovered along with the earliest known images of the apostles John and Andrew in an underground burial chamber beneath an office building on a busy street in a working-class Rome neighborhood.
The images, which date from the second half of the 4th century, were uncovered using a new laser technique that allows restorers to burn off centuries of thick white calcium carbonate deposits without damaging the brilliant dark colors of the paintings underneath. Read on…
(Thanks to David Neff for this information.)
Devotional images present even as some persecutions were continuing in Rome. Solid evidence on the roots of the Catholic practice.
By: creationbydesign on 24 June 2010
at 8:41 pm