Árdís - 01.01.1955, Side 48

46
ÁRDÍ S
A Likeness of Christ
By INGIBJORG S. BJARNASON
There is in every Christian a deep longing to look into the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thousands of pictures have been drawn,
painted, etched or carved in stone. Much thought and preparation
have been needed before such work could be attempted. The choice
of model required much consideration. Sometimes it took years to
find a face with the beautiful lines of purity, love, humility and
understanding etched on it.
When the model was found and the picture begun, then the
artist had to put a great deal of his own soul’s wealth into the work
to paint Jesus as he himself visualized Him.
Recently in Rome, Professor Lorenzo Ferri, a noted artist-
teacher, has completed such a work which he began twenty-five
years ago. His model was not the face of a fellow man nor yet a
figment of his own imagination. He used instead, a fourteen-foot
linen winding sheet which has for centuries been considered the
authentic Holy Shroud that enveloped the body of Jesus after the
Crucifixion. This has been treasured in the Cathedral in Turin,
Italy.
Working from photographs of the Shroud, the first of which
were taken in 1898, Professor Ferri has produced a full-length
figure of the man who lay in the tomb. This burial garment bears
markings and presumed blood stains which clearly show the
features of the face and body. The face was Semetic in character,
with sensitively arched eyebrows, a prominent brow. The body
was that of a man six-foot one or two inches in height, slender and
muscular. The left shoulder had been dislocated, presumably
during the Crucifixion. There are evidences of wounds on wrists
and side.
Should Professor Ferri be correct in his assumption, then his
reproduction is the best likeness of Jesus the world will ever see.