It does seem like a glimpse into the past, like, 2,000 years into the past.
There’s an authenticity.
Jesus is neither overly meek nor intimidating.
He is what He was/is: sensitive at the same time He is powerful. There is a sense of Presence.
If viewed from the front, one can easily see this face match with contours of the Shroud.
And those with “Him”?
While it seems obvious Who the Man with the brown beard represents, some believe the likewise bearded person He is speaking to may be the Apostle Peter, while the younger man behind (near the middle of the picture) is thought to be the beloved Apostle John.
Is the older man supposed to be Peter or someone who would have been older at the time, like Nicodemus?
They all appear to be standing along a shoreline, which indeed might be the River Jordan of Bible fame.
The picture was kept in a frame in the bedroom of famed mystic Maria Esperanza. Obviously she felt it had a special quality (and she had a lifetime of alleged visions of Him).
But as we once also pointed out, it also seems virtually certain to be the photo of a painting by an artist named J. R. Wehle (“Jesus Among the Wheatfields”).
Here’s a color version:
But this version seems qualitatively different:
Doesn’t it remind you a bit of those gathered around famous mystics such as Saint Padre Pio?
As we reported a good while back, the photograph had been taken in the 1950s by a friend of Esperanza’s who likewise had mystical gifts. A great picture for this time of the year.
As the account is passed down, it seems the woman, who had longed to know what the Lord looked like, was visiting the Holy Land when she felt compelled to have a companion point a camera over the Jordan River, resulting—allegedly—in what is in the photograph.
We’re not experts on photographic/artistic manipulation, but it was snapped in the days long before digital cameras and “photo-shopping.”
Is it simply a photo of a picture? That seems highly likely.
But a tad different? Anointed?
Definitely.
+