Salvator Mundi

• This ingenious cutting exhibits by its shadow on the wall
• an excellent resemblance of our Saviour.
• Published by the inventor. May 1st 1817
• Sold by S. Poole, 126, Pall Mall [London]
• Price 6d
• 108 x 146mm (4¼ x 5¾in)
•  

The hand-cut paper work of Christ's head hangs by a thread while the prevailing light from a window, oil lamp or candle creates a ghostlike image, as if from the distant past, onto the wall.

Although the Gospels and early Christian texts provide no information about Christ's appearance this cut out conforms, in a simple fashion, to the image of Christ that we recognize today.

Shadow pictures have a long history. Pliny the Elder recounted a Greek myth; the story of the Corinthian maid Dibutade who outlined her departing lover's shadow on the wall to preserve his image whilst he was away, a story often used to illustrate the origins of painting.