Artifact Featuring A Clean-Shaven Christ Calls Spain’s History Into Question
- 10 years ago
An artifact featuring an image of a clean-shaven Jesus Christ is raising questions about the history of Christianity in Spain.
An artifact featuring an image of a clean-shaven Jesus Christ is raising questions about the history of Christianity in Spain.
The object is a fragmented glass communion plate, and it was found inside of a religious structure in Andalusia.
Both the building and the Eucharist dish date back to the 4th century, which is long before Christianity is said to have appeared in the area.
As history is written, the religion didn’t spread to the region until the 5th century when recently converted Visigoths arrived in Iberia.
The plate, however, shifts the timeline to coincide with the reign of Constantine, the Roman emperor who endorsed Christianity and brought its practitioners out of hiding.
His rule spanned from 306 to 337.
The aesthetic choices evident in the image, like the grooming and garment depictions, are indicators of Roman influence as they are in line with the empire’s artistic style of the time.
That the plate was made of glass is another argument for its Roman origins, as after the 4th century it became papal preference that such objects be made of silver.
The artifact is now on display at the Archaeological Museum of Linares.
An artifact featuring an image of a clean-shaven Jesus Christ is raising questions about the history of Christianity in Spain.
The object is a fragmented glass communion plate, and it was found inside of a religious structure in Andalusia.
Both the building and the Eucharist dish date back to the 4th century, which is long before Christianity is said to have appeared in the area.
As history is written, the religion didn’t spread to the region until the 5th century when recently converted Visigoths arrived in Iberia.
The plate, however, shifts the timeline to coincide with the reign of Constantine, the Roman emperor who endorsed Christianity and brought its practitioners out of hiding.
His rule spanned from 306 to 337.
The aesthetic choices evident in the image, like the grooming and garment depictions, are indicators of Roman influence as they are in line with the empire’s artistic style of the time.
That the plate was made of glass is another argument for its Roman origins, as after the 4th century it became papal preference that such objects be made of silver.
The artifact is now on display at the Archaeological Museum of Linares.