hatsoff

Hey, all.

According to one Russian Orthodox priest, Luke the Evangelist was the first to create (paint, maybe?) a likeness of Jesus. Though his original has since been lost, legend has it that subsequent icons were based on the Lukan original.

Obviously this is a simple legend, but I have some questions: First of all, what is the likely origin of the tale, and the earliest extant form thereof? Second, what is the earliest known icon of Jesus which falls into the legendary Lukan line?

Thanks!

Toto

This sounds confused.

According to this Orthodox site, Luke was the first to paint a picture of the Virgin Mary.My guess is that this myth originated when the Emperor Constatine made Christianity an official religion of his empire, and his mother Helena traveled to the Holy Lands looking for historical relics, which were supplied or created as needed.

This Wiki article on icons agrees that the legend is that Luke painted the Virgin Mary's picture: Luke's portrait of Mary.

Early portraits of Jesus are missing. Christians have tried to explain this as part of a Jewish prohibition against graven images, or that "the immaterial God took flesh in the form of Jesus Christ, making it possible to depict in human form the Son of God."

Ben C Smith

The patristic legends about Pilate commissioning statues of Jesus may interest readers of this thread.

From Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.25.6 (Latin only at this point):

Alii vero ex ipsis signant, cauteriantes suos discipulos in posterioribus partibus exstantiae dextrae auris; unde et Marcellina, quae Romam sub Aniceto venit, cum esset huius doctrinae, multos exterminavit. gnosticos se autem vocant, etiam imagines, quasdam quidem depictas, quasdam autem et de reliqua materia fabricatas, habent, dicentes formam Christi factam a Pilato illo in tempore quo fuit Iesus cum hominibus; et proponunt eas cum imaginibus mundi philosophorum, videlicet cum imagine Pythagorae et Platonis et Aristotelis et reliquorum; et reliquam observationem circa eas similiter ut gentes faciunt.

Others use signs upon themselves, branding their disciples in the posterior parts of the right earlobe. Whence also Marcellina, who came to Rome under Anicetus, and, since she was of this doctrine, she led multitudes astray. They call themselves gnostics, and they also have images, some of them painted, others moreover fabricated from different kinds of material, and they say that a form [or statue] of Christ was made by Pilate at that time when Jesus was among men. And they display them with images of the philosophers of the world, to wit, with the image of Pythagoras, and [that of] Plato, and [that of] Aristotle, and [those of] the rest. And they also make different kinds of observations of these [images], similarly as do the gentiles.

From Epiphanius, Panarion 27.6:

Ηλθεν δε εις ημας ηδη πως Μαρκελλινα τις υπ αυτων απατηθεισα, η πολλους ελυμηνατο εν χρονοις Ανικητου επισκοπου Ρωμης, του μετα την διαδοχην �*ιου και των ανωτερω. .... και ενθεν γεγονεν αρχη γνωστικων των καλουμενων. εχουσι δε εικονας ενζωγραφους δια χρωματων, αλλα και οι μεν εκ χρυσου και αργυρου και λοιπης υλης, ατινα εκτυπωματα φασιν ειναι του Ιησου και ταυτα υπο �*οντιου �*ιλατου γεγενησθαι, τουτεστιν τα εκτυπωματα του αυτου Ιησου οτε ενεδημει τω των ανθρωπων γενει. κρυβδην δε τας τοιαυτας εχουσιν, αλλα και φιλοσοφων τινων, �*υθαγορου και �*λατωνος και Αριστοτελους και λοιπων, μεθ ων φιλοσοφων και ετερα εκτυπωματα του Ιησου τιθεασιν, ιδρυσαντες τε προσκυνουσι και τα των εθνων επιτελουσι μυστηρια.

And there came to us now somehow a certain Marcellina, who had been deceived by them, and she despoiled many in the times of Anicetus the bishop of Rome, the one [standing] in the succession of Pius and those before him. .... And thereafter happened the beginning of the so-called gnostics. And they have images painted lifelike in color, but also which are [made] of gold and silver and the rest wood, which they say are reliefs of Jesus and that these were made by Pontius Pilate, that is, the reliefs of this very Jesus when he lived among the race of men. And they hold these things in secret, but also [those of] certain philosophers, of Pythagoras, and of Plato, and of Aristotle, and of the rest, with which philosophers they also place the others, the reliefs of Jesus, and after they set them up they worship them and enjoin the mysteries of the gentiles.

From Antonius Placentinus, a pilgrim to the holy land:

Oravimus in praetorio ubi auditus est dominus, ubimodo est basilica sanctae Sophiae ante ruinas templi Salomonis, sub platea quae decurrit ad Siloam fontem secus porticum Salomonis. in ipsa basilica est sedis ubi Pilatus sedit quando dominum audivit. petra autem quadrangulis quae stabit in medio praeturio, in quam levabatur reus qui audiebatur, ut ab omni populo audiretur et videretur, in qua levatus est dominus quando auditus est a Pilato, ubi etiam vestigia illius remanserunt. pedem pulchrum, modicum subtilem, nam et staturam communem, faciem pulchram, capillos subanellatos, manum formosam, digita longa imago designat, quae illo vivente picta sunt, quae posita est in ipso praeturio. nam de petra illa ubi stetit fiunt virtutes multae.... et ipsa petra ornata est ex auro et argento.

We prayed in the praetorium where the Lord was given a hearing, where the basilica of Saint Sophia is, before the ruins of the temple of Solomon, below the street which runs to the fountain of Siloam following the porch of Solomon. In the basilica itself is the seat where Pilate sat when he gave the Lord his hearing. There was also a quadrangular rock which was standing in the middle of the praetorium, on which the defendant would be raised who was being heard, so that he might be heard and seen by the whole populace; on this [rock] the Lord was raised up when he was heard by Pilate, where his vestiges still remain. His image, which depicts him as if alive and which is positioned in this same praetorium, traces out a beautiful foot, though a bit slender since [it has] a normal stature, a beautiful face, hair curled under, a well-formed hand, long fingers. For from that rock where it stands many miracles take place.... And the rock itself is overlaid with gold and silver.

All these texts are taken originally from Eisenman, The Messiah Jesus, appendix 20, but corrected at times against other editions. The translations (such as they are, and quite rough) are mine, since Eisenman does not provide any.

In appendix 21 Eisenman offers several other patristic texts describing the physical appearance of Jesus. I hope to get these texts transcribed and translated too sometime soon, at which time I will post both the texts above from appendix 20 and those from appendix 21 on the Thoughts on Antiquity weblog and link to it from this thread.

Ben.

mountainman

AFAIK
there are no unambiguous
citations to "christian art",
and/or "christian sculpture",
and/or "christian grafitti",
and/or "christian relics"
and/or "christian inscriptions",
and/or "christian churches"
and/or "christians" period
until the 4th century
despite the "christian literary tradition"
to the contrary.

Toto

Do you mean Eisenman ? or

Eisler The Messiah Jesus and John the Baptist: According to Flavius Josephus' recently rediscovered 'Capture of Jerusalem' and the other Jewish and Christian sources (or via: amazon.co.uk)

Ben C Smith

Oops, my mistake. :blush: Yes, it is Eisler, not the more recent Eisenman.

Thanks.

Ben.

andrewcriddle

According to The Formation of Christendom (or via: amazon.co.uk) by Judith Herrin; the Empress Eudokia (the wife of Theodosius II) sent to Constantinople c 450 CE a painting of Virgin and Child which she had acquired in Jerusalem. It was claimed either at the time (ie c 450) or shortly afterwards to have been painted by Luke himself.

The icon was kept with other relics in the Blachernai shrine at Constantinople

Andrew Criddle

Ben C Smith

As promised, I have translated most of the texts from Eisler on the physical appearance of Jesus, and they are now on the Thoughts on Antiquity weblog.

Ben.

Julian

Just out of curiosity, how different are Koine and Byzantine Greek?

Huon

You could look at the story of the Mandylion (handkerchief) of Edessa :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_of_Edessa

In its extreme (late) version, the Mandylion would have been made by JC himself, who put a handkerchief on his face and printed his image on it. The Mandylion was sent to king Abgar V of Edessa, who was cured of I don't remember what disease.

Later, the Mandylion was brought to Constantinople, and disappeared during the plundering of the town in 1204 by the Crusaders.

Recently, some people tried to mix this story with the story of the Shroud of Turin.