Czech Graphic Artist Jan Krejci offers us another "politicized" face of Jesus from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection--not a Savior of the World who is the target of bullets like the Sviatoslav Vladyka Christ of Our Freedom we just considered but the gun-toting Jesus bristling with cartridge belts of this week's featured ex libris caricature. Ever since the Emperor Constantine first won a military victory "by the sign of the Cross" and Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire, violence down the centuries has all too often been justified in the name of Jesus, whether it be in medieval Crusades or in modern "ethnic cleansing" campaigns and guerrilla wars of liberation. Krejci takes aim at this kind of militaristic thinking that still prevails throughout much of Christendom in his contemporary book plate variation on the Man of Sorrows theme, where the thorn-crowned Christ blesses us with one nail-pierced hand, while brandishing an automatic rifle in the other. This Warrior Jesus may appear to be safe behind a bullet-proof shield, but as we know from Christ's own words in the Gospels, "all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matthew 26: 52, KJV)." Krejci's addition to our gallery of Christ portraits can be found in the East European Ex Libris page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. (John Kohan)