The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-04-08
IDEAL FACES OF
THE LORD CHRIST
The Conceptions the Worlds
Great Artists Have Had of
the Divine Face.

About the appearance of no other per-
son in history is there SO much conjcc-
ture and doubt. l'.Thou art the most
beautiful among men," Thus wrote the
Prophet Josiah of Christ
The oldest portrait known TO exist, If
it is a: portrait. is UP TO this day in 4
vault of the Catacomb San Protestanto,
on the Via Appia, Rome. 1t is a fresco.
painted on the wall dating from the
first half of the second century, and rep
rcsents the Biblical story Of Christ and
the Jewish woman, who, by touching his
garment, was healed of an affection of
the blood. Christ is pictured in the dress
of Roman youth, with short hair and
toga.
Some years ago a marble head was I'M
earthed In Athens, which is supposed to
be a part of a statue Of Christ. The type
is not Greek. The eyes are raised to
heaven, and the face is diSniiied ana tull
Of devotional feeling.
The Christian artists of the third CEN
tury created a type of the Saviour less
youthful and more serious than those Oh
the period preceding theirs.
The halo Is first noticed, surrounding
the head of Christ, in a painting in the
Catacombs. dating from the sixth CEN
fury. IT is. however, not Christian in
yention but an attribute generally con-
cedcd to the gods and the Roman en-
perors.
About the same time artists began to
further adorn pictures of Christ by holy
symbols and landscapes Of the country
in which He lived and preached. We
often find the Saviour represented as
the good shepherd carrying a lamb on
his shoulder while others surround him.
The fish symbol was first used by the
artists of the Middle Ages
The oldest beardless type Of Christ we
find revived in a Bible of the time of
Charlemagne dating, probably, from the
end of the eighth century. 1t does not
seem to have pleased the Christians, how
ever, and the artists of the Middle Ages
again accepted the bearded Christ as the
ideal representation. though they did not
follow stipulated likeness. All repre-
sent the face of Christ as that OF
earnest man. with long. scmi-straisht
hair surrounding the face with mus
tache and chin beard. The lips sharp
ly cut, the eyes wide open. About that
time an alleged "truc description of the
face and figure of the Saviour became
generally known. 1t was said TO have
been written by Roman officer or Cover
nor OIL JeIuSdlSlll ildllleU I<-lil 1 i
late's predecessor
IentuluS wrote: Christ has an open
forehead, on which never a cloud settled.
a face without wrinkles or spots. beau
tilted by a suspicion of red. His nose and
mouth are correctly and nobly drawn,
the beard is of good growth. short and
divided at the chin.
ut has the color of the hair, dark and
glossy. The hair is divided in the middle
g,11- i III a is- f1,a
fashion In Nazareth. The eyes are of
bluish-sray color. clear and beautiful
This description fitted the type already
generally accepted. Its Eenuineness is
doubted, however. Nevertheless, it ap-
pears TO have inspired Abrecht Duerer
in his celebrated drawing known as the
''Cloth of st. Veronica
The Greek Church did not permit artists
as much license in selecting types nor did
1T permit them to picture Christ otherwise
than in his Godlike majesty and dignity.
A very interesting picture is that in the
Mosque Kahrije Dsrhami in CONSTANT
nople, which was formerly 4 Catholic
Church belonging to the Convent Chora.
1t is a mosaic. The Turk sitting at the
feet of Christ is supposed to be the
founder of the mosque.
While the artists Of the Middle Ages.
generally speaking. laid, perhaps. too
much stress in their pictorial representa-
tons on Christ's qualities as ruler OF the
universe. the painters of the Renaissance
period represent him as the ideal of love
and devotion. The Christ pictures of
Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael picture
Christ as the ideal man.
Artists of to-day who attempt TO
paint the Saviour clever in resource.
Fearing to attempt the Divine Face they
conceal it without appearing to do so. In
one of the recent paintings the light falls
fun upon the face of the Saviour With
such brilliancy that the outline alone is
visible. In the foreground are the apos-
ties.
Not only do artists object to painting
the face of the Saviour because OF its
uncertainty in color and style. but be-
cause they fear to portray divinity. The
least look of worldliness, the smallest
trace of self-consciousness, or of any
other distinctively worldly attribute. and
it would not be the Christ.
With such difficulties as these the artists
who paint Christ have to deal.