It is not known for certain what he looked like in his earthly life. 27 canonical and over 100 apocryphal books of the New Testament do not give us even a hint of its appearance. Those descriptions of his appearance that were left to us by historians, philosophers and theologians of later eras sound so contradictory that it sometimes seems as if they were talking about different people. So, perhaps, the Bishop of Lyon was right when he asserted that the bodily appearance of the face of Jesus Christ is unknown to us. Yes, it is unknown, if you do not take into account one of the most important shrines of the Christian world - the Savior Not Made by Hands, the history of whose origin is still shrouded in secrets.
Testimonies of Jesus' contemporaries
It is impossible to briefly tell the story of the Savior Not Made by Hands. The very first detailed description of the appearance of Jesus Christ was left to us by the proconsul of Palestine, Publius Lentula, in his letter to the Roman Caesar: “This man is multi-talented. His name is Yeshua Ha-Mashiach. He has a beautiful and noble face, a harmonious body structure. His hair is the color of a ripe walnut. From his face comestrength and tranquility. It is ruddy and without a single flaw. He has blue and radiant eyes.”
Only most historians consider this letter a fake, because in the annals of Roman history the proconsul Publius Lentula does not appear. The very first painted images of Jesus Christ that history has preserved for us portrayed the Savior as more like a typical Roman than a Jew or Greek. Decent clothes of a Roman citizen, short hair, clean-shaven face. In the first written testimonies about the appearance of the Savior, Jesus Christ was portrayed as a nondescript person. So what was he really like? Is there at least one plausible description of him? At least one lifetime portrait? Yes, there is. More precisely - existed.
Augir's incurable disease
1st century AD, Edessa. The king of Edessa suffered from leprosy, a terrible incurable disease. The court doctors tried all the means known to them and already despaired of helping the king. Then the ruler decided to turn to Jesus Christ for help, because he had heard about his miraculous deeds. He sent ambassadors and a court painter to him, so that he would definitely depict Christ on canvas. Jesus received the messengers and sent his disciple to the king. However, the ambassadors could not go back, because the artist could not capture the features of Jesus on canvas. Then the Savior decided to help him. He washed, wiped his face with a towel, and the face of Jesus miraculously imprinted on it. Since then, we have been passing on the history of the origin of the Savior Not Made by Hands to children and adults. People believe it's trueevents.
Legends of the Miraculous Image
The Legend of the Image Not Made by Hands is first encountered in the history of Evagrius Scholasticus, a historiographer of the 6th century. Talking about the siege of Edessa in 545 by the Persian army, Evagrius recalls both the ancient legend about the correspondence of the king with Christ and the story of the appearance of the ubrus. But why, for five hundred years, nothing and no one knew about a holy relic of this magnitude? Maybe it's just a beautiful fairy tale? No, not fiction and not a fairy tale.
There are a fairly large number of authentic documents confirming the fact of correspondence between the Assyrian king and the Savior. Two sources deserve special credit. This is the church history of Eusebius of Caesarea and the early Syrian literary monument "The Teaching of Addai". The story of Abgar in the history of Eusebius is chronologically the first of all versions of the legend that have survived to this day. Eusebius wrote his history in Greek. The Syriac translation of this book is kept in Moscow, in the collections of the manuscripts of the Russian National Library.
Eusebius himself told that the story about Abgar was taken from a written Syrian source. At the same time, he constantly claimed that the document was in the archives of Edessa, stressed that the legend was translated from the Syriac language. One version of the manuscript of Eusebius of Caesarea ended up in the British Museum. It is somewhat younger than what is kept in Moscow. Nevertheless, neither in one nor in the other manuscript is there a word about the history of the creationHoly Savior. And it torments the minds of many people. The "Teaching of Addai" also does not mention the history of the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. Although he talks about Avgar, his incurable illness and correspondence with Christ in great detail.
The Holy Gate of Edessa
In order to unravel the mystery of five hundred years of silence about the ubrus, let's go back to Edessa in the first century AD. The king had two palaces - winter and summer. The first was built on a hill to protect against floods, and the second was located near two springs that supplied the royal ponds with water. Fish have been found in these ponds from time immemorial. It was considered sacred even in pagan times. This fish still swims in ponds near the ruins of a palace complex in a modern Turkish city.
Entrance to Avgar's winter palace led through the huge western gate. Since the ambassadors of the king passed through them with the letter of Jesus and the Savior Not Made by Hands, these gates began to be called Sacred. After his healing, the king believed in Christ and his mission, and ordered the construction of the first Christian church in Edessa. As a result, the Temple of the Savior Not Made by Hands appeared. Later, a disciple of Christ, sent by him to the king for healing, preached in it. Levi Thaddeus (Addai) finally cured Avgar of a terrible disease.
Wonderful deeds of the Holy Image
The son of King Avgar continued to patronize Christianity. But the grandson was an inveterate idolater. And, naturally, most of his subjects returned to paganism. In order to preserve the Savior Not Made by Hands andhistory of its origin from reproach, the Bishop of Edessa ordered to hide it. Christians walled up the relic over the gates of Edessa.
Legend says that the image was additionally covered with tiles, protecting it from bad weather. An inextinguishable candle was placed in front of the relic. Only at the end of the 6th century, when the Shah of Persia approached Edessa, a certain Eulalius had a vision that the salvation of the city was above its gates. The niche was opened, and then not only the holy ubrus was found, but also an inextinguishable candle. But the most interesting thing is that on the tile that covered the image, the very image that the white linen fabric carried was imprinted. According to legend, Bishop Eulalius took the Holy Icon in his hands and walked through the city with prayers. At this moment, the fire lit by the Persians around the walls of the city turned against them. The Persian king immediately retreated from Edessa.
Since that time, the Savior Not Made by Hands, whose origin story worries many scientists until now, has more than once helped the inhabitants of the city. Word of him quickly spread. On April 4, 622, Emperor Heraclius, going to war against the Persians, personally raised the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands in front of the army and swore an oath: “Fight enemies to death, but live in love and harmony with each other.”
In 639 Edessa was captured by the Arabs. However, they allowed the inhabitants of the city to freely practice their faith and did not touch any of the Christian churches. Moreover, not only the citizens of Edessa, but also pilgrims from othercountries.
From Edessa to Constantinople
Emperor Constantine Porfirorodny many times turned to the mayor of Edessa, Amir, with a request to sell the Holy Image and the message of Christ to Avgar. In the end, Amir agreed to Constantine's terms, but in return demanded a pledge never to attack the Assyrian cities. The Christians of Edessa did not want to give away the priceless shrine that kept and saved their city from the invaders. But Amir forced them to yield. So the Holy Icon and the Savior's message to Abgar were transferred from Edessa to Constantinople. After the transfer of the Savior Not Made by Hands, the relic was forever hidden from the eyes of believers in a golden casket.
Crusader Raid
In 1204, the crusaders, having taken Constantinople by storm, stole all the Christian shrines stored in the church. They divided the booty among themselves, part of which was sent to Venice, and the other to France. The most important items were sent to Venice, where they are preserved and open for honoring and worshiping Christians. It is still unknown how many crusader ships were sent to Venice, but there is evidence that one of them sank in the Sea of Marmara.
Our days
According to one of the versions, it was on this ship that the relic was carried, and allegedly the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands and the history of its creation have sunk forever in sea waters. According to another version, the head of the expedition managed to smuggle him to Venice. Then the image came to Genoa to Doge LeonardoMontaldo and was kept there from 1360 to 1388 in his family prayer chamber. On July 8, 1388, the Holy Image, according to Montaldo's will, was solemnly transferred to the Church of St. Bartholomew. Many modern historians believe that the real Savior Not Made by Hands, whose history of origin has not been confirmed, is located in Rome, in the Church of St. Sylvester. Whether this is so is unknown.
