dolphin

dolphin , 300s–mid 400s, late Roman Empire (27 BCE–395 CE) or Early Christian (100–500 CE)

Where object was made: Roman Empire (present-day Spain or Italy)

Material/technique: marble

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 21.6 x 34.3 x 6.2 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 8 1/2 x 13 1/2 x 2 7/16 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Elizabeth M. Watkins Fund

Accession number: 1961.0031

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Empire of Things," 2013, Kate Meyer
This Christian sculpture demonstrates the transmission of symbols between faiths and locations. Dolphins were identified with Christians, who were characterized as swimmers in the waters of baptism, but also were associated with the Greco-Roman gods Dionysus and Apollo. The design below the dolphin combines the Greek letters chi (X) and rho (P)— referencing the first letters in the word ‘Christ’ spelled in Greek (ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ)—and adds the letters alpha (Α) and omega (ω) as another reference to Jesus, known to some as “the first and the last.” The chi-rho (pronounced “kai-roh”) design also resembles the symbol adopted by the Emperor Constantine. Its presence firmly ties this work to early Christianity in the Roman Empire.

Exhibition Label:
"Echoes of Human Migration in the Collection of the Spencer Museum of Art," Mar-2010
This relief sculpture of a dolphin not only provides an example of Christian sculpture from late Antiquity, a moment that witnessed the beginnings of the Migrations period (300-700 CE), but it also demonstrates the transmission of symbols between faiths and locations. The Chi-Rho symbol visible beneath the body of the dolphin is similar to the symbol adopted by the Emperor Constantine, and its presence firmly ties this work to early Christianity in the Roman Empire. The dolphin was identified with Christians themselves, who were characterized by writers as those who swim in the waters of baptism. The dolphin had also long been associated with the Greco-Roman gods Dionysus and Apollo. Therefore, this fragment exemplifies the dynamism with which visual language was appropriated and transmitted across boundaries of time, place, and belief.