The many faces of Jesus ... and a 1500 year old duck.

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Dear Max and Dominic,

Have you seen pictures of Jesus? And have you ever wondered how anyone knows what he looked like? Well, back in the 5th and 6th centuries people in the city of Ravenna made mosaic pictures of him - they were a lot closer to the time he actually lived than we are but as you can see, even they couldn't quite decide what he looked like!

To start off with they didn't think he had a beard, then later they did, then they thought he might be quite muscular, then a bit heavier, then with a rainbow and dolphins for some reason, then someone gave up and made a picture of him as if he was a sheep (because his death was a bit like the sacrifice of a lamb). I must admit I've never seen a picture of Jesus without any clothes on until I visited Ravenna! Just about the only thing the same about all these mosaics is that they are very beautiful and very old. I wonder if the mosaic tiles you made Mum for her birthday will also last 1500 years?

One of the my favourite things about Ravenna was that the artists that worked there liked animals. My favourite were the ducks so the last picture in today's blog has the happiest 1500 year old duck I've ever seen on it.

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