SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 1898. 18 THE SAX FRANCISCO CALL, REMARKABLE"GRAFFITO"OFTHE CRUCIFIXION JUST DISCOVERED. Said to Be the Work, of a Roman Soldier Who Was on Calvary at the Time. ORAZIO MARUCCHI, who for ten years past has made a special study of the "graffito," has just discovered a wonderful picture of this style of drawing in the Palace of Tiberius, on the Palatine Hill,In Rome. "Crucifixion," The subject of the picture is the and Profes- PROFESSOR carefully weighing all the details connected with Marucehi. after Bor was drawn by a person who wit- the picture, is of the linn belief that it scene. nessed the was first discovered There are three crosses. When the "graffito" cross could hardly be discerned, but by careful treatment the central stronger, as figure of t»e walls it has been brought out much has the of Christ with the word "Crestus" abovfe »t- inscription is in Latin, and when translated reads: Christ, The rods, hanged upon the cross according having' been beaten with was to the secret customs." * OT since the discovery of the considerable doubt as to the meaning of the rest inscription. "I,(!gia" containing some unpub- of the tit any- sayings of Christ has * M. Marucehi deciphers part of * J\J I&hed compares * I\ thing been found which * it: "Crestus, virgis caesus de- * in Interest to the student of cretus mori, super palum vivus * I Christian archaeology with the * fixus est," which is to say: * illeged discovery In the Palace of * "Christ, after having been * Hill, Rome, * rods, Tiberius, on the Palatine in beaten with having been * * die, * of a "graffito'; representing the Cruci- condemned to has been at- fixion, which occurred during the reign * tached living to the cross." * of Tiberius. " Various interpretations may be said, is apic- have been A "graffito, it made of other parts of it, some the on of ture or Inscription scratched the lines being love verses. It was, to how- wall. Making graffiti was a habit ever, customary to add to or subtract which the Romans were very much ad- from such inscriptions; so this objec- dicted, and owing to it we have been tion of archaeologists does not militate fortunate in obtaining much informa- against the theory that the picture tion which we could not have obtained really represents the Crucifixion. in any other way. Some contend that Professor Mar- A distinguished archaeologist, Profes- ucehi is mistaken, and that the scene sor Orazicr Marucehi, the director of represents a ropewalk, but what ob- the Egyptian Museum off the Vatican, ject would Roman soldiers have in por- has devoted himself for many years to traying a ropewalk, and how does this do away the study of epigraphy, and now he has with "Crestus" and Filetus? brought into great prominence M. Marucchi makes a great point in himself showing owing t>> his discovery of the graffito that behind the central figure there seems to a referred to. have been third cross, for it is pos- The picture is scratched on the level still sible to distinguish a of ground close by the angle of one third ladder the running up the same height as passages the the of the which lie under others and also a rope hanging bridge third structures adjoining the of Cali- like rest. profes- neighborhood of downward the Other gula, in the immediate sors say that the "graffito" represents the Clivus Victoriae. The building is the preparations for a battle. All Caligula to really a gallery made by doubts will probably be set at rest connect the palace with the Forum. when Professor Marucchi publishes a One reason that even the archaeolo- pamphlet upon " the subject. This gist has great difficulty in making out pamphlet is in preparation. the topography of the Palatine is that This is the second "graffito" of great it is covered with a vast series of sub- note that Professor Marucchi claims to structures which supported the palaces have discovered in the ten years he has and which afforded rooms and passage- been studying the "graffiti" in the pal- ways for the servants, slaves, and es- ace of Tiberius. The other "graffito" pecially the soldiers. At any moment was also a picture of the Crucifixion, a large force of soldiers could be con- in which Christ appeared with an ani- centrated at any point of danger. Itis mal's ears on his head. After long and conjectured that the graffito is the work hard study Professor Marucchi came to of a Christian slave or soldier who had the conclusion that the picture of witnessed the crucifixion. Christ was originally drawn by a Christian soldier and that afterward, It is not surprising that the soldiers in a spirit of ridicule, some pagan had for to scratch lines diversion used and attached the drawing of the ears of an drawings rough plaster the on the of animal to the figure's head. The in- wall. The "graffito" of the crucifixion scription under the figure had appa- very crude, Is as is so often the case in rently likewise been altered in a spirit A ON THE WALLS OF THE HOUSE OF TIBERIUS. THE INSCRIPTION IS IN sketches uf this kind. of derision. FAC SIMILE OF THE "GRAFFITO" SKETCHED BY ROMAN SOLDIER THIRD CROSS / It is believed that the picture was A copy of the new "graffito" has been LATIN AND CONTAINS THE NAMES OF FOUR ROMAN SOLDIERS, PILATE AND CHRIST. THE DOTTED LINES REPRESENT A drawn by a soldier who took a more or made by Professor Marucchi and pre- MADE, BUT BY CAREFUL TREATMENT OF THE WALL THE OUT- less active part in the crucifixion of sented to the Pope. THAT WAS HARDLY DISCERNIBLE WHEN THE DISCOVERY WAS FIRST Mount Calvary. The "graffito" is carefully protected HAVE BEEN BROUGHT OUT STRONGER. The figures are about fifteen centi- by a grating, and it is probable that LINES meters high. At the right and left are the study of it may bring some new requesting to make crosses, Tory to him not and soldiers mount ladders details to light,but at the present time quite so much noise in a public tram- placed against them. Each person in the evidence points to its being an early car in which he was going to town the great tragedy is duly inscribed representation of the Crucifixion. from his home in'Charlottenburg; and with his name, and "Filetus" was un- itis even said that he put his first baby doubtedly intended for Pontius Pilate. into the waste-paper basket one —day STRANGE EXPERIMENTS WITH OUR NERVES. Berliners tell many a story it up because Itcried. St. inscription of The of and covered The twelve or fifteen Mommsen's absent-mindedness, and he James Gazette. lines begins with the word "Crestus," has ever been credited with not having by Fight. Suppose you are Itotal darkness we have very different is already as a rough recognized his own little son, The suicides at Monte an may preatly surprise many per- of paper represented an enlarged dia- Idominated which known and with Carlo reach • dark; from what we have of of having name prepara- of fifty yearly. to learn of the fact that gram of the retina of the eye. The tc-uched while in the how do you j sensations when in form the name Christ. There is asked him his average sons ' the light of day. everybody a blind spot in each subject whose blind spot was to be know where you are touched? Cornell j has Strange things are with this eye. only this, but every found was asked to look straight at professors assert, and say they have : done Not chair in room. Men are person has a great number of the paper on the wall. A round piece proved, that in the majority of cases j this dark IT spots on the paper one inch in diame*ter it is from the picture coming in the placed In it and are whirled around of black blank or nerveless they are dizzy. Then, when they in which little or no feel- was now produced and was moved mind, and not by the touch at all. Aft- until skin there is expect it, platinum heated ing or facts have very slowly up and down the merid- er all, we have a better idea of the least wires sensation. These to are to developed by certain experiments or curved lines on the wall. By appearance of our bodies than we, per- brilliant whiteness made been ians glow by means an current. on in University. moving up one line and down the next haps, credit ourselves with having. If of electric carried Cornell IThe subject is required quickly to professors say and going from line to line the yc-u had not a very accurate sense of j The experimenting thus point which is paint- spot black was sure in the end to appearance of your body, is a cut the spot at the wire that when you look at a great of the it j glowing. But this, to say, is or any- every part of the design question or not you j strange ing or a play, or a newspaper, have passed whether would always possible whirling While it was being exactly any is not after the thing that comes within the limits of on the wall. know where part of it of the chair. ordinary vision, you do not see it all moved along one of the lines the pro- touched on occasion.