Head of Christ

This print was given to John Sibree by Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot). Eliot was at the time engaged in the translation of Strauss's Das Leben Jesu and selected this picture to be the frontispiece of the book. Mary Ann was friends with the Sibree family while she was living in Coventry. She tutored the daughter, Mary, in German. It is not clear if this image was given to John Sibree Senior, a minister of the local Independent Chapel, or John junior, who studied to join the ministry but ended up abandoning the calling due to his doubts.