Images of Christ: Tablets of the law, tablets of the word

Rowena Loverance discusses an enduring artwork in Coventry

by Rowena Loverance 21st July 2017

Words set in stone have a long history in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The first version of the Ten Commandments was believed to have been inscribed by the finger of God (Exodus 31:18). Funerary inscriptions from the Roman catacombs are among the earliest visual forms of Christian witness. They are characterised by their often uneven lettering, and by simple line drawings of early Christian symbols – fish, anchor, palm of victory, Good Shepherd.