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 CHRISM CHRISTCHURCH 523 lots, or Li contes del Graal (with continuations by Gautier de Denet, Gerbert, and Manesier). The last two have not yet (1873) been printed ; but his Contes del roi Guillaume d 1 Engleterre were published by Michel in his Chroniques anglo-normandes (3 vols., Rouen, 1840), and served as a basis for O. Schonhut's Historic von Konig Wilhelm und seinen Sohnen (Reut- lingen, 1852). CHRISM (Gr. ^piff/ua, ointment), in the Ro- man and Greek churches, ointment consecrated . by the bishops, and used in the administration of baptism, confirmation, ordination, and ex- treme unction. There are two sorts of chrism used in the Roman church : one made of olive oil and balsam, which is used in baptism, con- firmation, and in conferring orders ; the other is composed only of oil, and is used in extreme unction. These are always blessed by the bishop on Maunday Thursday, and each priest is required to obtain a fresh supply and burn the old oils. In the Greek church, besides the oil and the balsam, it is usual to employ 35 kinds of spices. The Maronites formerly used balsam, musk, cloves, incense, roses, and other substances. CHRIST (Gr. xP tar ^i anointed), a title ap- plied in the New Testament to Jesus, and de- rived from the ancient practice of consecra- tion by anointing to the regal, prophetic, and sacerdotal offices. The practice is still pre- served in the consecration of kings. The apos- tles designate Jesus by his official title much more frequently than by his historical name. The reverse is the practice of the evangelists. (See JESUS CHRIST.) CHRIST, Pictures of. Among the early Chris- tians, the aversion to the fine arts, as prac- tised by pagan nations, was so great, that no pictorial representation of Jesus Christ was ventured upon, except symbolically through the signs of the lamb, the vine, and fish ; the Greek term for fish, t^fld?, constitutes the ini- tial letters of the following Greek sentence, significative of Christ's mission, 'lyaovc Xpiardg Qeov 'T, thus establishing a monogram, which has acquired a sacred celebrity. The earliest artistic effort to commemorate the life of Christ is parabolical, namely, representing him as a shepherd among his flock, with a shepherd's flute; also in search of the lost sheep, or carrying it after having found it. In these representations, which abounded at the time, Christ appears with the ideal attributes of a youth ; also in some instances in the ma- turity of manhood. Accounts have come down to us of pictures of Christ in the possession of King Abgar of Edessa and of St. Veronica, also of one ascribed to St. Luke; but these accounts are as little supported by historical evidence as the tradition of a miraculous pic- ture at Berytus, and of a statue erected to his memory by the woman whom he had restored to health. The Veronica, also known as the Ecce Homo, is said to be the impression taken on a linen cloth which a woman named Ve- ronica offered to the Saviour to wipe his face, while on his way to crucifixion. The original miraculous picture is said to have been pre- served in St. Peter's church in Rome as late as about the year 700. The most ancient por- trait of Christ was in the possession of the emperor Alexander Severus. In the Museo Cristiano of the Vatican is another picture of the Saviour, also dating from the 3d century, worked in antique mosaic, ascribed to a pagan artist, and representing the Saviour as a phi- losopher. Equally ancient portraits of Christ are found in the Calixtmian and Pontian cata- combs near Rome, and are contained in Arin- ghi's Roma Subterranea Nova. Here Christ is represented with an oval face, straight nose, arched eyebrows, and high forehead. The ex- pression is solemn, yet tender. The light brown hair, parted in front, descends in long curls upon the shoulders ; the beard is rather short and unequal. A writer of the 8th century, John of Damascus, represents Jesus as having been of imposing presence, with bushy eye- brows, singularly beautiful eyes, regular nose, curling hair, black beard, yellow complexion, resembling the Virgin Mary, &c. A suppositi- tious letter, purporting to have been written by Lentulus, Pilate's predecessor, to the Roman senate, also represents him as having possessed great personal beauty ; but this letter is now known to have been written in the 14th cen- tury, and to have been based upon the por- traits in the catacombs. The pictorial repre- sentations of the head of Christ, which made their first general appearance toward the end of the 4th century, and which served as types during the middle ages, were taken from the impressions traceable to these descriptions, and which, however conflicting in details, were all agreed in the general attributes of beauty in Christ's appearance. From the early middle ages down to Michel Angelo and Raphael, we find the same original conception guiding the minds of artists. Raphael's " Christ in the Sep- ulchre," and Leonardo's in the " Holy Supper," are generally considered the most beautiful pictures of Christ extant. Titian also excelled in this branch of sacred art ; his head of Christ in the " Tribute Money " in the Dresden gal- lery is his best. Among subsequent artists, Ludovico Carracci's heads of Christ are full of expression. See Grimm's Die Sage vom Ur- sprung der Christusbilder (Berlin, 1843). CHRISTCHURCH, a parliamentary and munici- pal borough, town, and parish of Hampshire, England, 20 m. S. W. of Southampton ; pop. of the parliamentary borough in 1871, 15,415. It is 7 m. from the Christchurch station on the Southampton and Dorchester branch of tho Southwestern railway, on the S. W. border of the New forest, at the confluence of the Avon and Stour, about 1-J-m. above their mouth in Christchurch bay, an inlet of the English chan- nel, about 11 m. long. It derives its name from a fine old church founded in early Sax- on times, and rebuilt under William II. In