Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1894-04-28
The PHYSICAL Christ.

IMAM WlnulllS touCH )OlJdDlO lIOuAiet'AA'
of human flesh did not add to the charms
of the world.
The Physical Christ.
But in no climate Ind il no ago did
there ever appear ;;;.:y oi-o Who III phys:
ical attractivcncss coull be compared
to him whom my text celebrates thou,
sands of years before he PIT his infan'
tile foot OF the hill back of bethlehem.
He was and is altogether lovely. Thu
physical appearance ci Christ is, for ths
most part, IN artistic :: .cs.;. Some writ,
ers declare hia u have lccn q brunette
or dark complexion, AID cthocs 9
blond or light conplo9iorcd. St. John
of Damascus, writing 1, 100 years age,
and so much rcarer than ourselves te
the time of Christ, and hence with more
likelihood of accurate tradition, repre-
sents him with beard black, and curly
eyebrows joined together, and yellow
complexion, and long fingers like has
mother" An author, writing Loco
years ago, represents Christ as a blond
'His hair is the color Of vino and golden
at the root, straight and without ius-
ter, but from the level of the ears, curl,
ing and glossy, and divided down tiiSa
center after the fashion Of the Nazaf
renes. His forehead is even and .smoots,,,
his face without blemssh and enha:il..:.ss q
by a tempered bloom, his countenance
ingenious and kind. Nose and mouth
are in no way faulty. His beard is full,
of the same color as his hair and forked
in form; his eyes blue and extremely
brilliant. +"
Ny opinion is, it was Jewish face.
His mother was o Jewess, and there is
no womanhood on earth more beautiful
than Jewish womanhood. Alas that he
lived SO long before the daguerrean and
Photographic arts were born, or we
might have known his exact features.
know that sculpture and painting were
born long before Christ, and they. might
have transferred from oldcn times tc
our times the forehead, the nostril, the
eye the lips Of our Lord.
Phidias, the sculptor, put down his
chisel of enchantment 500 years before
Christ came. Why did not some one
take up that chisel and give Us the side
face or full face Of our Lord? Polygno.
tus, the painter, put down his pencil
400 years before Christ. Why did not
some one take it up and give Us at least
the eye of our Lord-the eye, that SOW
ereign of the face? Dionysius, the itera'
~ artist who saw at Heliopolis, Egypt,
the strange darkening of the heavens at
the time Of Christ's crucifixion near Je-
rusalem, and not knowing what it was,
but describing it as peculiar eclipse
Of the sun, and saying, Either the Del
ty suffers or sympathizes with some suf'
ferer," that Dionysius might have put
his pen to the work and drawn the por.
trait of our Lord But, no; the fine arts
were busy perpetuating the form and
appearance of the worlds favorites only,
and not the form and appearance of the
peasantry, among whom Christ appear
cd
Portraits of Christ.
1t was not until the fifteenth century,
Or until more than 1,40O years after
Christ that talented painters attempted
by pencil to give US the idea of Christ''
face. The pictures before that time were
SO offensive that the council at Constan
tinople forbade their exhibition. But
Leonardo da Vinci in the fifteenth cen
tury, presented Christ's face on two can
vases, yet the one was a Tepulsive face
and the other an effeminate face. Raph
ael's face of Christ is weak face.
Albert Durers face of Christ was say
age face. Titian's face of Christ is al
expressionless face. The nghtiest art
lists, either with pencil or chisel, have
made signal failure i'll attempting tt
give the forehead, the cheek the eyes,
the nostril, the mouth of our blessed
Lord.
But about his face l can tell you some
thing positive and beyond controversy
I am sure it was a soulful face. The
face is only the curtain of the soul. i
was impossible that disposition like
Christ's should not have demonstrated
itself in his physiognomy. Kindness AZ
an occasional impulse may give no illu
mination to the features, but kindncs:
as the lifelong, dominant habit vii
produce attractiveness of countenanct
as certainly as the shining of the SUI
produces flowers. Children are afraid o.
o scowling or hard visaged man. They
CRY out if he proposes to take them. L
he try to caress them, he evokes sla1
rather than q kiss. All mothers know
how hard it is to get their children tc