The Good Shepherd, ceiling of Catacomb of St. Peter

The Catacombs of Rome are ancient underground burial places under or near Rome, Italy. There are at least forty. They began in the second century as a response to overcrowding and shortage of land as they were to satisfy the need for persecuted Christians to bury their dead secretly. The soft rock under Rome is very suitable for tunneling. The painting of the Good Shepherd is from the ceiling of the Catacomb of St. Peter. Shepherds were the ideal in the Jewish tradition because there was high reliance on God and the power of nature.