26 APRIL 1879, Page 15

M. RENAN AND THE PERSON OF ST. PAUL.

(TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]

SIR, In the mosaics at Ravenna, St. Paul is represented several times in company with the other Apostles. The rest have a strong family resemblance, but the type chosen for St. Paul is always the same, and always quite different from any of the others. Its characteristics are a high, bold forehead, strong, aquiline nose, and long, narrow face, ending in a dark beard. It will be seen that this agrees very well with M. Renan's description- Whether the Ravenna artists, like M. Renan, fol- lowed the Epistle of Thecla, or whether they and the author of the epistle are distinct authorities for the existence of an early tradition on the subject, is a question on which I cannot offer