158 THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. 



tinguish the nature of the material upon which the 

 portrait was impressed ; and all he could see on the 

 blackish surface was a vague outline of flowing hair 

 reaching to the shoulders, and a short bifurcated beard, 

 but no other evidence of human features. Mr. Heapy, 

 however, who could hardly as a Protestant have seen 

 the original, gives a beautiful representation of the 

 picture in his book, which is so distinct, so noble and 

 full of feeling that, as the author says, he who produced 

 it must have actually seen what he depicted. Whatever 

 we may think of this discrepancy, however, there can 

 be no doubt that the portrait is a very ancient one. It 

 is said to have been originally preserved in a box in the 

 Church of St. Mary of the Martyrs, more commonly 

 known as the Pantheon. It was placed in the Vatican 

 by John VII. in 707, and afterwards transferred to the 

 Church of Santo Spirito, from which it was taken to 

 its present position in St. Peter's in 1440. Hemans 

 thinks it is a work of Byzantine art of the seventh or 

 eighth century. It is possible, however, that it may be 

 considerably older ; for if Mr. Heapy's picture at all 

 resembles the original, it is entirely unlike the work of 

 the Byzantine school, and approximates to that of the 

 classical. The likeness is the traditional one with 

 which we are all familiar in pictures and engravings ; 

 the oval face, the smooth lofty brow, arched eyebrows, 

 hair parted and flowing in curls to the shoulders, 

 straight nose, beard short, scanty, and bifurcated, the 

 expression grave and mild, and the whole appearance 

 that of a man of from thirty to forty years of age. 



