Page:Leskov - The Sentry and other Stories.djvu/210

 194 "You are perhaps right, Vladyko."

"It is a very popular picture. I have seen it often, especially amongst ladies. Let us go on. Another great master. Here Christ is portrayed kissing Judas. What do you say to our Lord's face in this picture? What restraint and goodness! Is it not so? A beautiful picture!"

"A beautiful face."

"Still, is there not here too much effort at restraint? Look, the left cheek appears to me to tremble, and on the lips there seems disgust!"

"Certainly there is, Vladyko."

"Oh, yes, but Judas did not deserve it; he was a slave, and a flatterer—he could easily have produced such a feeling in everybody else—but certainly not in Christ, who was never fastidious, and was sorry for all. Well, we will pass on; this one does not quite satisfy us I think, although I know a great dignitary, who told me that he could not imagine a more successful representation of Christ than this picture. Here we have Christ again—and from the brush of a great master, too—Titian. The wily Pharisee with a denarius is standing before the Lord. Look what an artful old man, but Christ Christ   Oh! I am afraid! Look, is there not disdain on His face?"