Dear Courtney,
Your pictures sound very intriguing. I am not sure that I have
anything very helpful to say. I wonder whether there is some
reference to the passage in Isaiah 53 vv. 2-3 and in particular the
phrase ' he had no form or comeliness that we should look upon him'.
It may be that this detail is discussed by James Marrow in his work
on the connections between Passion iconography and Old Testament
prophecy.
The only work I know in which Christ's face is omitted is the
post-Reformation allegory which shows the Reformers around a table.
In the version of this image (also found in engravings) in the
Society of Antiquaries in London, where it hangs on the staircase to
the libary, Christ's hands and shoulders are shown, but his face is
omitted. Like all the Reformers he is identified by a label.
This sounds a bit late to be of any relevance.
I wish you well in your search.
Miriam Gill
[log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|