Jesus as Sun God

This heavily damaged mosaic, perhaps from the mid-third century, depicts Jesus like the Greek god of the sun, Apollo, riding in a chariot pulled by horses with rays of light shining forth around his head. This symbolism—God is light—reached back to ancient Egypt. Christian artists used it to portray Jesus because he had said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). The mosaic artist arranged the sunbeams to suggest the shape of the Christian cross. The cloak flaring from Jesus’s shoulder suggests the spread of his motion across the heavens. (Grotte, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican State / Scala / Art Resource, NY.)