Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/793

CHBIST. 695 CHRIST IN AKT. of anointing was at first comprehensive, being broadly applied, not only to priests (e.g. Lev. iv. 5) and to kings (e.g. I. Sam. ii. 10), but later to the prophets (e.g. I. Kings xix. 16) and to the patriarchs (e.g. Ps. ev. 15). It came, however, t-o be narrowed down to the king, as the religious head of the nation; and, as proph- ecy gave rise to the expectation of an ideal king, who was to be the redeemer and restorer of the Jewish nation, it was finally referred specifically to him (e.g. Ps. ii. 2). The first application of this idea in its full technical sense to this ex- pected king is found in the apocryphal Book of Enoch (xlviii. 10). In the Xew Testament, Christ is used both as an appellative and as a proper name. In both cases it occurs either with or without the article, either alone or in combination with other terms and names (e.g. Mark viii. 29: Luke xxiii. 2; Rom. XV. 3: L Cor. iii. 11). Always when used as a proper name, and frequently where other- wise used, it is a designation of Jesus of Naz- areth, as the expected ilessiah of the Jews. It is from this application of the term that its English meaning is derived. See Chbistology; Chbistiaxitt ; Jescs Chbist; and SIessiah. CHRIST, Descent of, rxTO Hades. See Apocrypha (paragraph New Testament). CHRIST AMONG THE DOCTORS. A paint- ing by Ingres. It hangs in the ilus(?e Municipal, Montauban, France. CHRIST BEARING THE CROSS. A fa- mous statue by Michelangelo, in the Santa Maria sopra iliner-a, Rome. It was ordered by Jleteleo Vari and Paolo Castellari for that church in 1514, and was set in its present place, to the left of the altar, seven years later. It was completed by Pietro Urbano and Roderigo Frizzi, and repre- sents its subject nude. A bronze drapery has been recently added, an act which speaks more for the modesty than the taste of its perpetrators. CHRIST IN ART. The representations of Christ are the most important part of Christian iconography ((j.v. ). In the early period art did not try to embody God the Father or the Holy Gnost in any human form — the former was sym- bolized by a hand appearing out of a cloud, and then only seldom : the latter in the form of a dove. In all the acts of creation and in the Old Testament events embodying relations between God and man. it is always the Son who is repre- sented by the artist. So far as art is concerned, the following categories are fairly compre- hensive: (1) Portraiture of Christ; (2) Christ in the Old Testament; (3) Christ in the Xew Testament: His life on earth; (4) Christ after the resurrection: (5) ideal conceptions of Christ. In regard to Christ's appearance on earth, the controversy among early writ- ers was extremely bitter : and, as Irenaeus tells us, in the Second Century, that no re- liable portraits existed, there was room for any theori-. There were, broadly speaking, two schools. One. mainly the African Church, main- tained that Christ was ugly, in order to pro- claim the triumph of mind over matter, of in- ternal over external beauty, and out of hatred for the Hellenic and pagan worship of the beau- tiful. The other, mainly the Greek fathers, re- fused to see in Christ anything but perfection. The Latin Church did not intervene forcibly on either side. These conceptions are reflected in art. In early Latin art, represented in the cata- comb frescoes (Second to Fourth centuries) and sculptured sarcophagi (Third and Fourth). He is a youth, beardless, with long, curly hair — so young that by no ))ossibility could it be sup- posed to be the portrait of a man of tliirty. Artists evidently wished to avoid being accused of attempting i.ny such thing. But before the close of the Fourth Century Saint Augustine speaks of the different types of portraits of Christ which artists were then attempting. Of these types one survived all others, and, with modifications, was handed down to the Renais- sance. It was purely conventional, and only later writers sought to base it upon early tradition, such as the description in the spurious "Letter of I.entulus,' and the acheiro])oetic images, or miraculous portraits, like the handkerchief of Veronica. This type had an oblong, oval face, with broad, smooth forehead, straight, slender nose, arched brows, hair parted in the middle and falling in long ringlets over the shoulders, a full beard of moderate length, and an expres- sion grave but sweet. This bearded, poetic, and intellectual type originated with Greek Chris- tian art, and was brought by it to Italy. Some examples of it appear in the catacombs; imper- fectly in the sarcophagi (a fine example in the Lateran Museum) ; better in the frescoes (at Saint Calixtus and Saint Pontianus) ; coarsely at Santa Costanza : more refined in the mosaics of Santa Pudentiana (c.400), Rome, and San Apol- linare Xuovo (c..500-550) , Ravenna. It is pri- marily intended to represent the Christ tri- umphant, transfigured, or in heaven, not the Christ of the earthly miracles. The beardless type became entirely obsolete before the close of the Fifth Century, and Christ was repre- sented bearded and older, whether on earth or in heaven. This marks the close of the first period, from c.lOO a.d. to .500, and during these centuries Christ had been portrayed mainly as follows: During the Second Century almost the only way of presenting Him in the catacomb frescoes was as the Good Shepherd, either carrj'ing a lamb on His shoulders or in the midst of the sheep; then, in the Third Century, came the first use of the scene of the Adoration of the Magi, and perhaps even earlier the Baptism, the Samaritan woman at the well, and the Resurrec- tion of Lazarus — subjects used as symbols and not as episodes. The commonest method was to present Christ under symbols that only the faith- ful would recognize — as the Lamb, the F'ish. the Vine, as Orpheus charming with his music. With the triumph of Christianity (312), a new stage opened, in which, on the one hand, the art of the catacombs is continued in the sculptured sarcophagi, and on the other the monumental art of the basilicas strikes a new note in repre- sentations of Christ. Such epi.sodes of the life of Christ as would be suitable were carved on the sarcophagi; but as yet no complete historic series of these episodes were attempted. Christ trimnphant was enthroned in the apses of the new churches; enthroned or seated on a globe or standing among the twelve apostles, teaching them and giving Paul and Peter authority to preach and govern. The scene is in the Heavenly Jeru.salem, and from beneath His feet fiow the four rivers of Paradise. The spiritualizing of the scenes continued up to the Fifth Centiiry —