Cotolo Chronicles

BENZINE, Ohio -- {Special to Cotolo Chronicles blog} -- Only days after a long-lost manuscript dating to the early Christian era offered a different view of Jesus-disciple Judas Iscariot, historians have found a painting (see picture above) that they feel is part of this "Gospel of Judas," as the document has been titled.

The 3rd or 4th century manuscript, written in Coptic on sheets of papyrus, was discovered in Egypt in the 1970s only to vanish again into an underworld of shadowy antiquities dealers and circus performers. But the picture, believed to be drawn by a top artist of the era, was not with the document then. The document portrays Judas as Jesus' favorite apostle. In this version, Judas is the good guy.

"You can see in the picture," said a historian, "that Judas was a happy, cool fellow, not the dark figure as his is always portrayed. He may have been the class clown of the apostles, cracking jokes and juggling wooden dishes to keep the morale up."

Speculations of the picture's painter are beginning to surface. One historian says it could have been created by Gionini Gionana, due to the style of the work. However, other historians say that was a common style, also presented by Luigi Sovanova, Mario Milonoma, Pasqual Piccanumero and even Salvadore Salami.