164 " 



meanness rather than of dignity. These defects were not probably 

 in the first impression of the coimtenance, but were caused, hke 

 those of the letters, by the injuries of attrition or erosion, naturally 

 to be expected from the situation in which the medal was found. 



The bust on the medal, now submitted to the Academy, accords 

 exactly with those delineations of our Saviour's person, which, 

 whether spmious or genuine, convey at least a representation of 

 what it ought to be. The head seems formed on the description 

 of Christ said to be sent by Lentulus to Tiberius.* Tlie hair di- 

 vided on the vertex, " Nazarseorum ritu ;" from thence descending, 

 " plani et integri, ad aures ; inde crispi non nihil usque ad hu- 



* It is recorded by Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, (Lib. 1. cap. xiii.) that Ab- 

 garus, King of Edessa, held a correspondence with our Saviour; and Moslieim adds, (Vol 1. 

 p. 57) that he received from him his picture, as a mark of esteem and approbation for his faith 

 and piety. The letters, which were said to have passed on the occasion, are still extant ; but 

 they are rejected by the learned as spurious. It is asserted, however, that the original picture 

 is preserved in the Vatican ; from which a print, now very scarce, was published about 200 

 years ago. The portrait nearly resembles the form and expression of that on the medal. A 

 respectable English periodical publication states, that the original letter of Lentulus to Tibe- 

 rius, is in the possession of the family of the late Earl of Mazarene- A translation of this 

 letter, with a portrait of our Saviour prefixed, was, a few years since, circulated in Dublin. 

 The portrait resembled that on the medal : the following is the translation of the letter — 



" There appeared, in our days, a man of uncommon great virtue, named Jesus Christ, 

 who is yet living among us, and of the Gentiles is accepted as a prophet of truth ; but his own 

 disciples call him the Son of God. He raiseth the dejd, and cureth all manner of diseases. 

 A man of stature somewhat tall, and comely, with a very reverend countenance, such as the 

 beholders may both love and fear. His hair of a colour of a chesnut full and ripe ; plain to his 

 ears, whence downwards it is more orient, curling and waving about his shoulders. In the 

 midst of his head, is a seam or partition of his hair, after the manner of the Nazarites. His 

 forehead plain and very delicate. His face without spot or wrinkle : beautiful, with a lovely 

 red. His nose and mouth formed as nothing can be represented. His beard thick, in colour 

 like his hair; and not over long, but forked. His look innocent and mature. His eyes grey, 

 clear, and quick. In reproving he is terrible ; in admonishing he is courteous and fair spoken; 

 pleasant in conversation, mixed with gravity. It cannot be remembered, that any have seen 



I 



