_Dresden Gallery_]
Christ turns upon him a searching glance which seems to read his motives
as an open page. There is no indignation in the expression, only
sorrowful rebuke. His answer is ready, and he points quietly to the coin
with the words which so astonish his listeners.
The character of Christ is so many-sided that any painter who tries to
represent him has the difficult task of uniting in a single face all
noble qualities of manhood. Let us notice what elements of character
Titian has made most prominent, and we shall see how much more nearly he
satisfies our ideal than other painters.
Refinement and intellectual power impress us first in this countenance:
the noble forehead is that of a thinker. The eyes show penetration and
insight: we feel how impossible it would be to deceive this man. It is a
gentle face, too, but without weakness. Here is one who would sympathize
with the sorrowing and have compassion on the erring, but who would not
forget to be just. Strength of character and firmness of purpose are
indicated in his expression. The highest quality in the face is its
moral earnestness. Its calm purity contrasts with the coarse, evil face
of the questioner as light shining in the darkness. There is, perhaps,
only one other head of Christ in art with which it can properly be
compared, and this is by Leonardo da Vinci, in the Last Supper at
Milan. The two painters have expressed, as no others have been able to,
a spiritual majesty worthy of the subject.
The early painters used to surround the head of Christ with a circle of
gold, which was called a nimbus, a halo, or a glory. The custom had been
given up by Titian's time, but we see in our picture the remnant of the
old symbol in the three tiny points of light which shine over the top
and sides of the Saviour's hair. They are a mystic emblem of the
Trinity.
The artistic qualities of the picture are above praise. There are few,
if any, of Titian's works executed with so much care and delicacy of
finish, but without sacrificing anything in the breadth. We recognize
the painter's characteristic touch in the disposition of the draperies,
in the delicacy of the hair, the modelling of the hands, and the pose of
Christ's head. The figures have that quality of vitality which we
observe in Titian's great portraits. The color of Christ's robe is red,
and his mantle a deep blue.