Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-12-29

i Seitul anu W navy uCiu pDoltNOn dInOns
the retainers of Pilaie-though bo,l
statements are probably fictiiious-wrot,
letter which is quoted by St. Anselm, o
! Canterbury, in 1907. We extract stu
gle passage; "He (Christ) is man of tai
stature, comedy. having venerable coun
ienance, which those beholtiing must lt,v,
or fear. His hair is waving and cured
rolling to his shoulders, having partins
in the middle of his head. after the man
ner Of the Nazarenes. His brow is smontl
and serene, his face without wrinkle Of
blemish uf any Kind, and rends rcd beau
iiIul by moderate color. There is q,
fault 10 Lc found with the nose or mouth
his hair is the color of the hazel nut; hi
berad the same shade as his hair; not Ion.
but bifurcated. and his eyes grayish blu,
and fun of light His hands and arms ar,
beautiful.
NlcephoTus CaIlistus Xanihop1'us VIII,
lived al Constantiuop.e between 1925 an
1850, nd wrote a yOluminous ecclesiasti
cal history, sums up the ancient desrrip
tions i'm the following words:
''Ch. ist was beaut full in body; his high
seven complete spans; his hair yellowis'l.
but not thick, and at the ends somewha
curlcd. His eyebrows were black. only d
little arclled, and without break; his eye:
were haZai, and of that description called
bIight-eyed-not dim, and in no way
misformed, nor wandering. His nose wa:
prominent. his beard reddish not prorusc.
but the hair Of the head was abundant
for never had razor or the hand OF mar
sllorn it, Ills neck was somewhat bent
SO that lie did not walk perfectly upright;
The colNr of his face was yellow brown
like ripe wheat, his face was not round
nor pointed. but, like his mothers. little
dropping. and slightly blushing. His very
countenance indicated man of inielli.
ence, with manners grave, calm, and re
moved from anger. La al things be was
like his most pune mother"
Nicephorus gives the sketch OF the
Virgin Mary:
MARY WAS il everything modest and
earnest; she spoke very little, and then
only about the necesSaries; she was very
courteous, and rendered To all honor and
respect. She spake To all with an engag-
ing frankness, without laughing, without
embarrassment. and especially without
rancor. Finally, she was wsthouS pride.
simple, and without guile; she had np IN
sipidity about her, but was unassuming.
Sire was of middle statue, though some
assert her TO have been somewhat taller
She had pale tint, light hair, piercing
eyes with yeliowish olive color. pupils
Her brOws were arched and Inpdesty
black; her nose moderately long; her lips
fresh, and full o! amiabill,y when spesk k
ing; her face not round or pointed but
iongish, and her hands and iDgers fairly
long. In her dress she was fond OF the
natural color"
We now turn to the most ancient pOr-
traits of Christ which painters have LEFT
us and The yeaeration of the church pre-
served. The history connected with
these, however interesting, must. In the
majority Of cases, be recei, ed with many
grains of allowance Tee Greek monk,
Michael, Simon Metaphysics, st. Thomas
Aquinas, ami Nicersoros, all assert that
81. Luke painted portrait OF Christ; and
the picture itself is now in the Possession
of the Benedictines of Vallambrosa- An
examination proves that while II could
not possibly have been done at the time
specified, il is yet of great antiquity. II
is painted on panel OF cypress wood;
the features are strong ly marked, the face
long. the eyes large and brilliant, the ere
lids dropping, and the brows finely arched.
In the monastery OF ST. Praxldes is a pic
ture which dates back before the days OF
Constantine, but il Is enshrined in silver
case and the jealous keepers will not
permit a close examination. What is
known as the Genoese portrait is unques-
tiOnably OF remote origin. anu represents
Christ with trifurcated beard and full
round by Zsntine face At the promulga-
ton of the dogma of the immaculate
n De
exhibited in the chapel of the blessed
sacrament at ST. Peters u number OF rel
les of the passion of Christ, and among
them the famous vel. of ST. Veronica, ON
which are said 10 be impressed the Inca
mems of the savior. None but Bishops
were allowed 10 enter the chapel, and 10
the crowd gaziDg through the grating
nothing corld he clearly distinguished.
By special favor, however, NJ. Barber de
Montault, canon of the Basilica OF Anag-
nl, was permitted to approach the shrine
add carefully scrutinize the mysterious
picture. We give his own description:
The holy face is enclosed in frame OF
silver partially gilt. and square of severe
character, and little adorned. The sim.
pliclly of she bordering gives prominence
to the interior of the picture, which is
protected by thin plate of crystal I'm
fortunately, by one of these customs 50
common IN Italy, sheet of metal covers
the feu, and only leaves apparent the
figure Indicating lis outline. By this out
line one is led 10 conjecture flowing halt
reaching 10 the shoulders, and a shorl
beard, bifurcated and small. The Other
features are so vaguely indicated, or SO
completely etfaced, that it requires the
| lIveliest imagination in the world to per-
ceive traces of eyes or nose In short
one does not see the material of the sub
stance because of The useless interveniior
Of metal plate, and the place of impress
| sion exhibits only blackish surface
not giving any evidence Of human
| features"
Bat the face of Christ is not always de
linesled on wood Or canvas, but Is to bs
found in various shapes upon the earliest
Christian sarcophagi; also dOIe IN ename
and mosaic, and iresctcd on the walls ant
ceilings OF the Romac caiacombs. These
sarcophagi are of white marble, general,
highly ornamented with elaborate bas
reliefs, and evidence, by the care bestowed
upon tier preparation, the respect il
which the dead were held even in tina
era Ut corruption, tyranny and violence
/ Except In the nature of the symbol:
carved thereon, there is no particular diff
ference between the Christian and Pagan
saIcophagi. Tia of Janius Bassus, whs
died IN the ,ar 3J3, has the face of tn.
Saylo: four { mes repeated. Ii is youth
| full almost 10 childishness, with fiamin.
hair and beardIess chin; tile features ar,
of the ordinary classic type. Embedded il
the catacombs, whom the inscription de
ciares to be ''thc happiest of women.
was found beautiful glass goblet. o.
this goblet is portrayed in enamel a rep
resentaticn of the resurrection of Lazar
US. Christ is there shown, young an,
beautiful, with curled hair hut beaTtlIess
while in another goblet from the sam
tomb be is seen bearing the fruit OF th
tree of life, bearded, with long flowin
hair parted on the crown, aud long
straight nose. But the ceiling of til
fourth chamber in the catacomb of st
Ca.ixtus 3 frescoed large medallion SUI
rounded by a curious ornamcDtation G
doves and arabesques- In the center q
this medallion is bust of Christ. TIL
figure is partially nude, some drapln