Pictures of Christ .A letter which we have received signed
by the Bishop of Liverpool and many other distinguished churchmen and educationists calls attention to the harm that is done to the-impressionable minds of children by pictures of Christ which suggest that He was effeminate or weak or depressed and convey " a false idea of Our Lord." The early Christians, as we know, discouraged any attempt to portray the features of Christ; and there is nothing to show that the interesting early portrait about which there has been much recent discussion has any claim to be an authentic likeness. The real features arc utterly unknown, and the artists of each age have either been influenced by traditional renderings handed down from the Middle Ages, or have attempted to interpret Christ in the spirit of their own time. The element of suffering was emphasized in an age which sanctified suffering for its own sake, the element of -pity in an age which was inclined to pity itself. It would have been useful if the writers of the letter had mentioned one or two existing portraits which they do approve:
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