Saturday, January 30, 2016

Collar and Cape

Was Yeshua still wearing the Roman soldier's purple cape?

Different eyes 'see' different things in the shroud image. I see a collar around the man's neck and one or two clasps and possible signs of cloth gathered like a cape would be at the left clasp. 




The feint horizontal dotted lines are where I believe folds in the cloth occurred due to the shroud wrapping the body and the head being tilted up. Also I see two possible stars - although these could also be flowers.


In this painting of the shroud I see a star at the bottom of the hair

The Commodilla fresco painting shows similar stars and a tunic top, gathered in the same two places.

It is only at the beginning of the fourth century that the Shroud could be finally unveiled safely. Helena went to Palestine in 326 to contemplate the relics of Jesus of Nazareth. The fresco of Jesus of Nazareth in the catacombs of Commodilla in Rome dates of the end of the fourth century. He bears both a long hair and a beard, with an aureole. (Aura)
[also note that this painting faithfully copies the indication of a collar and positions of cape fastening.


"After Jesus had been brought before Pontius Pilate, Pilate gave the people a choice: he would release either Jesus or Barabbas. The crowd chose Barabbas, and the soldiers then mocked Jesus by dressing him as a king and flogging him before he was taken away to be crucified."
According to Matthew, the soldiers dressed Jesus in a scarlet robe as part of this humiliation:

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, say, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him." [Matthew 27:27-31 (NRSV)]

According to Mark, though, the robe was purple:
"Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple clock and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him." [Mark 15:16-20 (NRSV)]

In John, too, the robe is purple:
"Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face." [John 19:1-3 (NRSV)]

So what colour was the robe that the soldiers put on Jesus, scarlet or purple?
It doesn't really matter, but one commentator says...

"Although we think of both purple and scarlet as colours, the Greek word translated "purple" actually refers to a type of dye. Mark and John's descriptions of the robe as purple are thus descriptions of the way that the robe was given its colour, not of what colour it was.
Matthew's description of the robe as scarlet, on the other hand, is a description of the robe's colour. Purple dye was used to dye garments scarlet (among other colours), so Matthew's account is perfectly consistent with those of Mark and John."

Other pictures of Roman and other icon Cape and tunic tops for comparison:


 

 

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