The Discovery and Exploration of the Jewish Catacomb of Vigna Randanini

What is it about?

This chapter considers the impact of de Rossi’s methodology for catacomb study on the excavation of a Jewish cemetery in the Vigna Randanini in Rome between 1859 and 1864. Essentially, almost all of what is currently visible in the catacomb was revealed at that time (as well as other parts now blocked up or over-restored). It will also discuss how de Rossi was very present yet conspicuously absent from the site. As a result, many elements he saw as critical to cemetery documentation—such as understanding ancient and modern landscape transformations, creating a step-by-step inventory of cemetery features and alterations, providing detailed illustrations of inscriptions, paintings, and other tomb decorations, and developing a comprehensive plan indicating the catacomb’s relationship to other topographical elements—were not immediately addressed.

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Photo by Rory Hennessey on Unsplash

Photo by Rory Hennessey on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The Jewish catacomb’s rediscovery defied all expectations. A “Jewish catacomb” could counterbalance or serve as the “litmus test” for the Christian catacombs being studied by de Rossi and the CDAS. Marchi’s Monumenti already included speculative commentary on how the cemeteries might have functioned as Christian ritual spaces. Several of his CDAS colleagues went even further than that in defending the relic trade, with heavy support from the foreign missions. Even scholars like de Rossi maintained that “tradition (itself) rests on the foundations of truth.” In response, those outside this tight circle viewed Randanini’s Jewish catacomb as the “long-desired opportunity” to evaluate the underground cemeteries on more equitable terms. By its very existence, even before many of the details were known, it had the potential to contradict much of what the catacombs had come to represent to the Roman Catholic Church.

Perspectives