Women deacons, priests, and bishops appear in Christian frescoes and mosaics in catacombs and churches all the way up to the 1500's.

A panel in Rome's Catacomb of Priscilla (no one knows if Priscilla is actually buried there) shows a woman receiving priestly vestments at her ordination. Another scene in the same catacomb shows 2 women seated at a table, with both arms raised in a so-called Eucaristic vigil. Both frescoes date to between A.D. 79-100.

In Naples, on the premises of the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, is the Catacomb of San Gennaro, with a fresco of Bitalia (Vitalia) which dates from the early early 300s A.D. She is wearing a red chasuble over a darker, long-sleeved garment, and is shown with her hands raised above a cup of wine and a cup of water; below her right elbow is a flat loaf of bread. Above and behind her are representations of the four gospels (in the form of a codex with ribbon markers). Taken together, the symbolism is understood to mean that she both ministered the Word and administered the sacraments.

Sometime after A.D. 356, in Rome's Catacomb of Domtilla, a fresco was painted to honor the memory of someone called Veneranda. It pictures two women through whom Veneranda's community traced her ministry (through succession of ordination) -- Domtilla (Christian relative of the Roman Emperor Domitian) and Petronella (presumed daughter of St. Peter). From a description by Dorothy Irvin: "These two women are depicted with a codex and its typical ribbon markers near St. Petronella's left hand, and on the floor is a round case full of scrolls of the books of the Bible, with a lid and a shoulder strap for carrying. St. Paul, elsewhere in this catacomb, is also painted with such a case, called in Latin 'capsa'. The codex is the form used by the early church for the Gospels, while other books of the Bible were still being copied in scroll form. The codex and the 'capsa' are the marks of teaching and preaching the Gospel, the ministry which Veneranda carries on in a tradition already three hundred years old."

An ancient floor mosaic in the Algerian church made famous by its bishop, St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430), covers the grave of "Giulia Runa, Presbiterissa (priestess)".

The Church of St. Praxedis in Rome holds a mosaic which portrays the Virgin Mary, along with early Christian Saints Praxedis and Pundentiana (daughter of Roman Pudens from 2 Tim. 4:21?), and "Theodora Episcopa (female bishop)" who also happened to be the mother of Pope Pascal, who commissioned the (re)building of the church in around A.D. 820. Another mosaic panel in the same church shows the succession of office-holders in the history of the church (which began as a house-church): Christ, Peter and Paul, two women bishops, and the then current Pope.

There is a 16th-century painting in Bebenhausen, Germany, once used as an altarpiece, which shows one woman holding a Bible (available only to scholars, teachers, and preachers at the time the painting was done); another woman carrying a tall gold processional cross used in the performance of public eccesiastical office; the third woman holds the ciborium and the host, for celebrating the Eucharist. Only a priest could TOUCH the host. What is the explanation for this painting, currently housed in the former Cistercian cloister?

I have close-up pictures of all of these, but my scanner is not working. Pictures I've been able to find online are small and lacking in detail. I'll try to see if I can find another solution.

(In the picture below, you can just make out the words "Theodora Episcopa". The square halo means that she was alive at the time the mosaic was created.)

See? It takes linking and research, but the information is there if someone is willing to do some homework.