The Face of Christ

I discovered this icon on the web site of Ann Chapin. I wish I had a copy of it for one of my walls. I think it is startling. There are some Christians who seemingly don't understand the desire some of us have to see the Face of Christ. There is a good discussion about this as well as some examples of Rembrandt's paintings of Christ on the Idle Speculations blog. Rembrandt is one of my favourite painters. His ability to portray real people - as if actually getting inside their skin - is astounding. Yet, I think his portrayal of humanity did not come primarily from the faces he saw before him, at least not as an observer, rather it came from within the painter. Rembrandt's self-portraits speak the truth because they speak about human weakness, vanity, humility, suffering loss and faith. Few people ever see themselves in a mirror as Rembrandt saw himself in his paintings.