The Savannah morning news., 1903-09-20
PORTRAITS OF CHRIST
No Authentic Likeness is Known to BE in Elk
iStenCe

artists have given us. He must have
been a man of noble appearance, for
no narrow-chested weakling could have
gained the admiration of the half-bar-
barian with whom he had to deal.
His humility surely was not of the
bowed-head and round-shouldered type,
but enhanced his dignity; and his
kindness did not dispute the air of
authority which must have enwrapped
him, or how should he have impressed
the people with the truth of his say
ings? His goodness was not of the
long-faced dropping sort, but
was of that broad and tender and COM
plete kind that his teachings suggest.
In all, he must have been a man good
to look upon, of magnetic presence,
both spiritual and physical.
No soft-muscled man could have
carried the Cross of Cavalry upon his
back, and no santimonious-co untenanc-
ed or weakly sentimental creature
could have preached the Sermon on
the Mount. In all, one might judge
that the majority of the Christ's pic
lures seen to-day are too softly beau
tiful, or too sentimentally cookbook
ing, to portray such a man as he must
hive been when the children of Gal
lice followed him, or when the people
of Rome demanded his life because
they feared him.
ness of Jesus that may be counted
more authentic than another. All his
tories of Christian art either do not
mention any existing portrait which
might be supposed to have been taken
from the life. Garrucci, in his "Storia
deli Arte Christiana.'' quotes the
statement of the Roman Emperor Au-
gustine, who said that in his time no
one knew what the personal appear
n M nF let ic
erary evidence that any picture Of
Christ was ever made by one who had
seen him, or, if so, that such a one had
been preserved for the eyes of later
centuries.
There is a book, however. written by
Thomas Heaphy, brought out and elab-
GRATED bv Sir Wyke Bayliss, and en-
titled The Likeness of Christ" which
processes that certain frescoes found
in the catacombs of Rome must have
been produced in the time of the Apos-
ties, and that. therefore such ikenesses
of Christ as appear thereon must GER
tainly have been authentic.
Mr.. Heaphy, in fact, claims that two
of the likenesses he has discovered in
the Roman catacombs, must have
been painted bV men who had seen
the Lord. and who intended them to
represent his personal appearance"
himself copied and that the reproduce
tion is an exact copy Of the original
Unfortunately. however, no one be-
sides Mr. Heaphy has ever been able
to find this original where he claims
TO have found it. He has II placed in
the catacomb of St. Callistus. while
very eminent authorities state that IL
is not there. but in the catacomb Of
Domatilla. Also. the condition Of this
fresco was such that IL WE impossible
TO distinguish clearly any Of the fea-
lures. Besides this, there is another
copy which was made Of the same
head thirty years before Mr.. Heaphy
made his. when the fresco might posi-
bly, have been In better condition. This
was published By Kugler.
The difference between the two pic
lures is apparent 10 the most casual
observer.
Sir Wyke Bayliss says. concerning
this fresc0 n believe IL 20 have been
the work Of a Roman artist q pOr-
trait painter. who had himself seen