Further evidence that Heaphy's 1st century sketch of Jesus in the Domitilla catacomb is of him sitting up at his resurrection with the Shroud over his shoulder!

© Stephen E. Jones[1]

In my post of 05Jun21 I wrote: "One of Heaphy's [Thomas Frank Heaphy (1813-73)] watercolour paintings ... of a fresco in the" Orpheus Cubiculum of the Domitilla catacomb, I propose ... is a depiction of Jesus sitting up in the Tomb immediately after His resurrection, and the `white mantle' around His shoulder and back is the Shroud"!

[Above (enlarge): "Original [Heaphy] painting of fresco. Catacomb of SS Nereo and Achilleo [sic. it was the Orpheus Cubiculum of the Domitilla catacomb.]. Probably 1st century ..."[MR86, plate 1]. Ian Wilson (1941-) noted of this, "the Heaphy profile view" was an "odd-man-out" in depictions of Jesus[WI92, 8]. Rex Morgan (1936-) confirmed that Heaphy's painting was of the "three-quarters profile portrait of Christ, in a fresco ... in the ceiling of a vault in the Orpheus Cubiculum of the Domitilla catacomb," because "The figure [in the fresco] has long hair and a beard; a white mantle is clasped upon the right shoulder. Just as Heaphy had copied it" (my emphasis)[MR93, 28]. See also 21Mar23. Belgian industrial chemist, Remi Van Haelst (1931-2003), saw this fresco and was told by his guide, "This is the oldest representation of the Lord, made by an unknown artist ... who had know[n] Jesus" (my emphasis):

"On the sepulchral vault, in the light of his flashlamp, the guide showed me a very vague painting. In a kind of circular inset on the ceiling of the chamber I saw the figure of a human bust, looking from the left side. With a kind of sepulchral voice the monk told me: `This is the oldest representation of the Lord, made by an unknown artist, probably based on descriptions or perhaps a sketch or painting by someone who had know[n] Jesus or his disciples"[VR87]

My reasons for thinking that this is a depiction of Jesus sitting up in the Tomb immediately after his resurrection, and the "white mantle" around His shoulder and back is the Shroud, are: 1) The simplest way to show Jesus sitting up after his resurrection is by a profile view (see below); 2) Jesus is naked under the "white mantle" as he was when buried (Jn 19:23); and 3) There is no mention in Scripture (or elsewhere as far as I am aware) of Jesus wearing a white mantle, but the Gospels mention that Jesus was buried in a "linen shroud" (Mt 27:59; Mk 15:46; Lk 23:53) which would have been originally white (Rev 19:14)[AM00, 72, 212]. Therefore, I no longer propose, but claim that this is the earliest (during the reign of Nero r. 54-68)[MR93, 28]), first century depiction of the Shroud!]

The "further evidence" that the simplest way to depict Jesus immediately after his resurrection, is him sitting up in profile, as in the resurrection scene in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ":

[Above (enlarge): Jesus depicted in profile, sitting up immediately after his resurrection, in Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ." Watch the YouTube video here. I saw this harrowing movie on my own in a theatre in 2004-05 and I remember this scene as the ultimate happy ending!]

Notes
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to quote from any part of this post (but not the whole post), provided it includes a reference citing my name, its subject heading, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]

Bibliography
AM00. Antonacci, M., 2000, "Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence," M. Evans & Co: New York NY.
MR86. Morgan, R., 1986, "The Holy Shroud and the Earliest Paintings of Christ," Runciman Press: Manly NSW, Australia, plate 1.
MR93. Morgan, R.H., 1993, "New Evidence for the Earliest Portrait of Jesus," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 42, December, 28-29, 28.
VR87. Van Haelst, R., 1987, "Did I see the Lord?," Shroud News, No. 44, December, 11-15, 12.
WI92. Wilson, I., 1992, "Still in Rome: Rediscovery of 'Oldest Painted Likeness of Christ'?," BSTS Newsletter, No. 32, 7-10.

Posted 19 June 2024. Updated 20 June 2024.