Images of Jesus

Template:Jesus There are no undisputed historical images of Jesus; he sat for no portraits which are preserved and of unquestioned authenticity and undoubted provenance.

There is however an early tradition, recorded by Eusebius of Caesarea, that says that Jesus once washed his face with water and then dried it with a cloth, leaving an image of his face imprinted on the cloth. This was sent by him to King Abgarus of Edessa, who had sent a messenger asking Jesus to come and heal him of his disease. This image, called the Mandylion, appears in history in around 525. Numerous replicas of this "image not made by human hands" remain in circulation. As recently as the 19th century, it was not uncommon to find prints of this icon in the homes of Anglicans, along with framed copies of the correspondence between Jesus Christ and the King of Edessa. There is also the Shroud of Turin, which appears in history in 1353, which some have speculated is the same image as the Mandylion of Edessa, which disappeared in the wars surrounding the fall of the Byzantine Empire shortly before then. Controversy still surrounds the claims made for the Shroud of Turin. There are also two or three paintings of Jesus and Mary that are ascribed to Luke the Evangelist, at least one of which is still preserved.

Early Christian art is not universally acknowledged as being helpful in knowing what Jesus actually looked like. No detailed physical description of him is contained in any of the canonical Gospels. During the Roman Empire's persecution of Christians, Christian art was necessarily furtive and ambiguous. There are a number of images from Christian tombs in the catacombs that have been interpreted as portraits of Jesus. Some of these depict the "Good Shepherd" in pastoral scenes collecting sheep; in these images, Jesus is a beardless youth.

The more familiar, bearded Jesus figure appears later. As a practicing Jew, it is assumed that Jesus had a beard. The source or model for his physical features remains unknown. It is possible that the portrait may have been based on an eyewitness's sketch or reproduced from a tradition of verbal descriptions of Jesus' appearance. But once the bearded, long haired Jesus became the traditional representation of Jesus, his facial features began to take shape and become recognisable.

History of images of Jesus

The earliest Christians themselves did not often depict Jesus, if they did at all, using instead the Ichthys (fish symbol), the Labarum (or Chi-Rho), or an anchor as symbols. When Jesus began to be depicted in the catacombs, he is usually depicted as the Good Shepherd as a beardless youth. Youth was seen as a sign of divinity, and there may have also been an influence from images relating to the pagan mystery religions, which often depicted the objects of their cults in a similar way. Other common themes in early Christian art are Jesus as a healer and the baptism of Jesus (who is generally shown standing in water up to the ankles, as John the Baptist pours water over his head). This sort of imagery dominated the first five centuries.

As Christianity emerged from the catacombs and became a state religion, the images of Jesus began to take on a more imperial look. He was depicted in royal robes, and the halo became very prominent. Themes of the Good Shepherd still remain, as can be seen on the apse mosaic in the church of Santi Cosma e Damiano in Rome, where the twelve apostles are depicted as twelve sheep below the imperial Jesus. By this time Jesus had begun to be depicted with the distinctive "look" that dominated much of the history of art, with shoulder-length hair and a beard.

French scholar Paul Vignon has listed fifteen similarities (like tilaka) between most of the icons of Jesus at the time, particular the icons of "Christ Pantocrator" ("The all-powerful Messiah"). He claims that these are due to the availability of the Image of Edessa (which he claims to be identical with the Shroud of Turin) to the artists.

The whole of art history remains marked by images from the Bible in general, and of Jesus in particular.

The earliest image presumed to be of Jesus is a piece of wall graffiti near the Palatine hill in Rome. It was apparently drawn by a Roman soldier to mock another soldier who had converted to Christianity. The caption reads, in Greek, "Alexamenos worships God", while the image shows a man raising his hand toward a crucified figure with a donkey's head. The head of the donkey seems to refer to a Roman misconception about Jewish religion, so that the image would be at once anti-Semitic and anti-Christian.

Modern artists have focused on the incarnational aspects of the Jesus story and thus have created images reflecting their own personal concerns. Hence there are paintings of a black or Chinese Christ, and also Christ as a woman.

Forensic recreation of Jesus

Recently, a team of forensic scientists from the UK and Israel attempted to construct what Jesus may have looked like. Starting with a skull from that time period, they reconstructed the face. Critics point out that this method only produces an image of a (perhaps typical) Jew from the first century, and does not say anything more about what Jesus looks like than a photo of one modern man tells you what another specific modern man looks like. See:

• Popular Science (http://popularmechanics.com/science/research/2002/12/real_face_jesus/)
• CNN article (http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/12/25/face.jesus/)

Example images

See also

• Tilaka
• Iconography
• Salvator Mundi
• Christ the Redeemer (statue)
• Christ the Redeemer (icon)
• The Last Supper (Leonardo)
• Michelangelo's Pietà
• Crucifixion
• Holy card

External links

• Popular Mechanics Jesus photos (various) (http://popularmechanics.com/science/research/2002/12/real_face_jesus/index2.phtml)