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hangs to a great length down their backs . On their heads they wear a handkerchief of coloured silk . When married the hair is trussed
up , and this constitutes the outward mark of a virgin , or a matron : ' ( p . 33 . ) and in another part , of his work he tells us , that 4 Armenian women of Astra
chan bring the only hair which they disclose in front of their ears , in two thick locks , one on each side . ( p . 311 , note . } There can
be no doubt therefore , I think , that this piece of Novogorod idolatry , was originally meant to represent the trinity of Father , Son ^ and Virgin .
It is true , that above the head there appear the Greek letters 1 C and Xjd , denoting Jesus Christ . But this I consider as no very formidable objection to the explanation I have given ; because they might be , and probably were , the addition of some later hand , made
after the partisans of the Holy Ghost had defeated those of the Virgin , and had become the church triumphant upon ' earth ; whereas the picture might be painted when it was was still
undecided which should be the third person of the trinity , and when neither party could pretend to be considered as any thing more , or better , than one faction of the church militant . These letters
are of no weight against the inherent marks of the female figure , so conspicuous in the head itself ; which is very different from all the heads of Jesus , in the other pictures of the Virgin and Child ,
contained in Dr . Clarke ' s work . In every one of those , the hair of Jesus is cropt short and bushy , round the nape of his neck , some , what after the manner of a bob ,
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or cut , wig , and is shaved close upon the crown , in the form of a clerical tonsure : but in this the hair , which appears thick upon
the top of the head , is parted over the forehead , and descends from behind , in loose and flowing locks , or ringlets , under the chin ; plainly pointing out the female attire , which all the features of the face
exactly correspond . Dr , Clarke Has given us a legendary tale , which accompanies the first of these two trinitarian idols , the c Virgin with three hands , ' in which it is recorded
that the third hand appeared at first spontaneously upon the canvass , in the absence of the painter , and then twice re-appeared , after having been twice rubbed out by the artist , who , upon attempting to rub it outT a third time , was
alarmed by the appearance of the Virgin herself , who declared that it was her pleasure to be thus painted with three hands . This story ( told also in Mod . Univ . Hist . vol . xxxv . p . 133 ,
note . 13 edit . 8 vo . 1762 . ) I take to be not a mere idle tale , invented for no other purpose than that of exciting wonder , but one of those many pious , or rather impious , frauds , which were propagated in
such numbers by priests in the early ages of the church , for political purposes ; and I think it was designed to work upon the superstitious fears of those who opposed the pretensions of the Virgin , in the hopes of deterring them from their opposition .
There is jol similar story related by Dr . Clarke respecting another picture of the Virgin , in which there is n third hand of a different sort . This picture , which is preserved in thed urch of Tscherchas-
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On Pictures of the Trinity , in Dr . Clarke ' s Travels . 401
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vo : l . yt . 3 F
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1811, page 401, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2418/page/17/
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