Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-12-25
CHRISToS LIKENESS.
AN OLD MEDAL FOUND IN ROME
WITH ONE OF JESUS ON 1T.
1T MAY BE- 4 TRUE PORTRAIT.
Lacks the Beard Usually Given In
Sacred Art-Interesting Decsrip-
tim of Some Ancient Frescoes I'm
C~Rtacombs.
Cetncombs.

A Rome correspondent OF the Baltimore
SIM writes: The Paris Figaro OF Deem
Der 4th publishes a very interesting not'
concerning "the most ancient eihgy o.
Christ" It was acquired by M. Boyer
d'Agen at Rome, and is regarded as q
treasure.
ON leaving the Palazzo Farnese, whore
Tho French Ambassador TO the Quiriha
resides. and where the French schooi o.
History and Archaeology Is estaohsheu
n d'Agen passed into the Campo del FL
ori fuu into the quarter Of the antlqna'
rIes. Here he began to overhaul the odu'
and ends Of ironware in the stand OF al
old merchant. and there found a medaI
covered with verdlgris, n almos, u''
recoenizable. which he bought. because
Il bore on one side an efigy OF christ
and on the other an inscription IN lie
brew. lie paid 2 cents for IT.
Tho celebrated goldsmith, NJ. fallze' on
p1ris has suggested to NJ. Boyer dAgen
thar the medal Is OF great lmportahCS
The ntmismatist and the eruolte a..
Semitic art are studying 1t at the preseh'
moment. I'M
PERHAPS AN AUTHENTIC PORTRAIT
II f. thought that it's coming is not
very ancient. but that It Is posslble thal
the admirable figure OF Christ may DC ~
most ancient portrait that there Is Oh li'un'
81 nerhaus. an authentic portrait. IT
IS necessary. however. 10 Walt Ior VI
| oninion Of the learned experts who VIII
romin the medal before coming Ia
this conclusion.
There is a special interest In SUCH a
discovery ct tho present season 'Wnen
people all over the world are pfepaIlis
for the celebration OF Christmas Anu
oItbouoh IL is not advisable 70 pronounce
on tho commences OF the portrait on the
medal recently discovered until the eA-
perts have given their judgment IL j
noteworthy that the subject OF the ike
ness OF Christ has quite recently oCCu-
pied the world Of art and Of history. Inc
iatest work on this theme, and, in fact,
the most thorough, is that or 9lr WYE
Baylfss. president Of the Royal Society oil
british Artists. It Is entitled Rex Re
gum: n Painters Study OF the Likeness
of Chris from the Time Of the Apostles
to /the Present Day
AN INTERESTING THEORY.
The method OF argument pursued by
this artist author Is one which, ne De-
Ueyes. has never before been attempted.
lie discards from It all traditional sto-
ries OF this or that supposed portrait
'.The evidence" no writes, rs much hlBh-
er than, that OF any attestation OF indl-
yidual witnesses who may or may mo-
speak the truth. The evidence Is that OF
tha likeness itself traced 70 tho kno"l-
edge OF the CONTEMPORARIES OF the apes
Ties. and even to the knowledge Of the
apostles themselves" And ne ASKS Ms
readers 10 observe that his subject Is not
the ukenesses Of Christ, but tho likeness
OF Christ. "Our knowledge Of the IKE
ness is no doubt reached through the IKE
nesses. but the two things are distinct
and must be clearly differentiated in the
mind throughout the argument. Tho many
ikenesses we possess are links IN the
chain but not one Of them Is tho likeness
any more than a simple link is the chalh'
THE CALLIsTINE TYPE.
There is no doubt Whatever lhaI tIeis
ls a very remarkable unity in the resem-
blance OF one likeness 70 another' anu
that his has endured for az least FOUR
teen centuries. It IS In Rome that one
looks for the earliest hkenesses or pic
lures Of Christ. and it is the CatacomDs
that furnish these pictures. And IL Is
10 these subteTranean cemeteries OF the
early Christians hat Sir Wyke Bayhss
anneals. and the one he regards as the
finest among these is that which was
found in the Catacomb OF St Callixtus'
on the ancient Appian Way.
II think that the most beaudtul-as II
IS at the same time the divinest ana the
most human OF them all-is the Calls
tine portralt. The original is the
size Of life. I take It as the type Of the
likeness In the Catacombs. It Is from the
cemetery Of 5. Capisto, and appears 70
bave been executed in color, but the
damp from the rock and the smoke from
many tapers have done their work, ana
little IS left but the beautiful outline or
the divine face"
IN THE ,CATACOMBS.
This, for all practical purposes, may De
said TO have passed away, and only the
more or less faithful copies of 1t remain
At any rate. It cannot he regarded as a
contemporary effort at portraiture, though
in may exhibit a reflex or the memory OF
how Christ appeared TO men when He
walked the earth. The Catacombs, as
burial places for the early Christians, Tor
which purpose they were originally exca-
vated and decorated, date no earlier than
the arrival Of the apostles 81 Peter and
ST. Paul I'm the Eternal city. The pictures
OF Christ painted on tho tomb or In the
chanel In q catacomb where some early
Christian was laid to rest could. there
fore. under tho most favorable circum-
stances, only be painted from memory or
bo a copy OF some unknown portrait
painted during the life OF the Saviour on
earth. And ven these probabilities are
lacking. FOR Il Is impossible to trace any
likeness. OF Christ in tho Catacombs-saye
the lost likeness Of the Callistine Gene
terry. the age OF which Is not clearly de-
termined-to a period earlier than the
fourth century. There ara many reasons
FOR thinking that a traditional likeness
of Christ may havs existed, either in line
and color or I'm verbal description, which
has supplied the basis Of the type which
has prevailed for so many centuries IN
Christian art, and which, however 1t may
have varied in ac~cidentals, has preserved
a well-recognized, underlying basis OF IN
dlviduality.
GAS A BEARDLESS YOUTH"
let no one" says Andre Perate. ''be
astonished to find in the catacombs, in
the parts OF these cemeteries made before .
the triumph Of Christianity, so few
images Of Christ and Of the Virgin" And
he notes that the symbolical decoration
OF the tomhs did not by any means imply
an exposition OF dogma or an illustration
Of the Gospels. III, in the most ancient |
s%epvlchral chambers. Jesus appeared only
as the worker OF miracles and without
those distinctive characteristics which
testify to the divinity. we know that He
is present everywhere under the lovable
figure Of the Good Shepherd. Indeed. IN
the celebrated Chambers Of the Sacra-
ments I'm the Catacomb. OF ST. Callixtus. |
Christ is represented as a beardless
youth. arrayed In the Roman costume.
prevailing at the period in which the
picture was painted, and being rather n
u~..In1 fhnn q IlrnAzgE 81 IhPfgF