The feast that decorates Vibia’s resembles a picnic. Her life story is painted in an indented arch. In a comic strip style, Vibia journeys through Hades to Elysium at her death. On the left, Vibia is being led through an archway labeled Inductio by Good Angel, Angelus Bonus. She is the central figure among five guests, already inducted into paradise.
It is uncertain who Vibia’s guests are or if her husband Vincentius is among them., but all are animated and reclining on a cushion (stabidia) while ta servant offers food, other servants collect flowers. Overall, the message is that if you are worthy, you will be happy and comfortable enjoying a feast in a world without end.
See Giovanni Battista de Rossi, James Spencer Northcote. Roma Sotterranea: Or, an Account of the Roman Catacombs, Vol. 2. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1879; Ewald, Paul Zanker, and Björn C. Living with Myths: The Imagery of Roman Sarcophagi New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
What is served at the feast is not given. However, I’ve included a recipe for Sole in White Wine from Apicius’s Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome:
A dish of sole is thus made [2] beat the sole [3] prepare [4] and place them in a [shallow] saucepan, add oil, broth and wine, and poach them thus; now crush pepper, lovage, origany [oregano] and add of the fish juice; then bind the sauce with raw eggs [yolks] to make a good creamy sauce of it; strain this over the sole, heat all on a slow fire [to fill it with live heat] sprinkle with pepper and serve.
See Hypogaeum of Vibia, arcosolium [an arched recess], Induction of Vibia, and Banquet of Vibia among the Blessed Vibia’s Tomb. Vibia’s Entry to Elysium and Picnic Feast (350c.) Pontifica Commissione di Archologica Sacra, Vib Bt;A picius’ Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome (375c. -450c.). Translated by Joseph Dommers Vehling. Peter Smith Publisher. 1936. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29728/29728-h/29728-h.htm [155] Sole in White Wine [Patina ex Soleis]
*Vibia’s Tomb, or Hypogeum of Vibia, was built on the Apian Way 350c.