Unveiling the Historical Christ: The Quest for the True Image of Jesus

Salvator Mundi: Jesus painting thought to be created fully or partly by Leonardo da Vinci

The True Image of Jesus: Bible and the Gospels

What do historical texts say about the physical appearance of Jesus? Neither the Bible nor the Gospels have a mention about the true image of Jesus. Why do all of those texts miss a visual account? Although the New Testament, written between the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, does not describe Jesus visually, there are textual descriptions of many kings from the same period. For example, in his 2nd-century book, ‘Parallel Lives’, Plutarch described the Persian King Darius III. Similarly, Suetonius describes the physical form of Emperor Augustus in his book on him, and this book was written in 121 CE. Moses and David were also physically described as handsome in many texts from the same period. The Acts of Paul and Thecla describe Paul as a bald, bowlegged, small man.

From these examples, it is clear that there was a tradition of describing the physical appearance of important people during that time. Rome and Greece, one must remember, have had strong traditions of sculpture and art to depict their heroes and leaders. Why is there still no description of Jesus?

Apocryphal Texts: The Letter of Lentulus

We know that the European depiction of Jesus came to dominate the narrative. However, Jesus was a man from the Middle East. The only available textual depiction of the physical form of Jesus is in the Letter of Lentulus, a 15th-century epistle, in which a Roman official, supposedly a contemporary of Jesus, is believed to be giving a physical description of Jesus. This letter is considered apocryphal. Yet, it is believed to be the basis of all depictions of Christ from the 15th century onwards including that of Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century, in his painting, ‘The Last Supper’. The text of the letter was first printed in the book, ‘Life of Christ’ by Ludolph the Carthusian in 1474. The relevant parts of the letter read as below-

“Lentulus, president of the People of Jerusalem, to the Roman Senate and People: Greeting. There has appeared in our times, and still is, a man of great virtue, named Jesus Christ who is called by the Gentiles a prophet of truth, whom his disciples call the Son of God, raising the dead, and healing diseases. He is a man of lofty stature, handsome, having a venerable countenance, which the beholders can both love and fear. He has wavy hair, rather crisp, of a bluish tinge, and glossy, flowing down from his shoulders, with a parting in the middle of the head after the manner of the Nazarenes. His forehead is even and very serene, and his face is without any wrinkle or spot, and beautiful with a slight blush. His nose and mouth are without fault; he has a beard, abundant and reddish, of the colour of his hair, not long but forked. His eyes are sparkling and bright. He is terrible in rebuke, calm and loving in admonition, cheerful but preserving gravity, and has never been seen to laugh, but often to weep. Thus, in stature of body, he is tall; and his hands and limbs are beautiful to look upon. In speech, he is grave, reserved, and modest; and he is fair among the children of men. Farewell. (The Apocryphal Gospels, p.221-22).

Historians suggest that Publius Lentulus, the supposed writer of this letter, was likely a fictional character. Yet, this being the only description of a true image of Jesus Christ, the letter evokes fascination and curiosity.

One of the early paintings of Jesus Christ and the first one to appear with a beard; Source: Wikipedia

Old Testament Accounts and Early Paintings

In the Old Testament, the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah by Isaiah reads,

“He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:2-3)

It is generally agreed that many early Christian historians thought that Jesus was not handsome but ugly. The earliest available painting of Jesus is from the middle of the 3rd century CE. In a fresco from that era, Jesus is young, has cropped hair and has no beard at all. Historians suggest that this painting and other rare depictions from that period either resembled the depiction of the Greek God Apollo or a shepherd boy.

From the 3rd and 4th centuries onwards, the visual representations of Jesus changed. Flowing hair and beard began to appear in Jesus' pictures.

Jesus and Lazarus: Painting from Domotilla catacomb

Jesus and Lazarus Painting from Callixtus Catacomb

One painting that is supposed to be of Christ is the one inside the Catacomb of Callixtus where Christ is seen raising Lazarus. It shows Jesus calling Lazarus with his raised right hand and Lazarus emerging from the tomb. In this painting, Jesus looks like a shepherd boy with dark skin and curly hair. In another catacomb, the Domitilla Catacomb, the same scene is depicted in a slightly different way.

The Catacomb Paintings

The first preserved paintings of Christ are in the Catacomb paintings of Rome and date back to the early third century. Before that, in the first two centuries after Christ, Christianity was just a small persecuted cult, which did not have the resources and opportunity to create art based on its belief system. The Roman Catacombs are underground cemeteries built outside the walls of the city of Rome and beneath the roads adjacent to the walls. The age of these catacombs falls between 200 CE and early 600 CE. There are many catacomb paintings that provide us with images of early Christianity and rare insights into it.

Another catacomb painting is that of Jesus sitting on a throne surrounded by the Apostles. In this painting also, Jesus is dark-skinned.

Christ and Apostles: Catacomb Painting

In the Gospel of John, Jesus described himself as the good shepherd. Hence, it was only natural that many early painters depicted him as a shepherd. There is this painting from the catacomb of Priscilla where Jesus is depicted as the good shepherd.

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A catacomb painting believed to be that of Jesus the Good Shepherd

What Do The Relics Suggest?: Abgar of Edessa

In Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai, Egypt, there is a painting depicting Abgar, the king of Edessa, receiving a cloth upon which a face, supposed to be of Jesus, is imprinted. It dates from 944 CE. This image of Jesus on the cloth is believed to be not made by hand but by Jesus wiping his face on the cloth. The story goes like this- Abgar, the king of Edessa was a contemporary of Jesus. He was ailing and sent word to Jesus to go to him and heal him. Jesus instead sent a cloth which he wiped his face with and after which a picture of him miraculously appeared on that cloth. When King Abgar put that cloth on his face, he was healed. The cloth is believed to have been kept by him above the city gate for all to worship. This relic is thought to have been lost and disappeared during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 CE. There is also a view that the cloth was taken to the church of St Sylvester in Rome and many copies of it were made. This story was first told by Eusebius of Caesarea (260-339 CE), who is considered the father of Church history in his book, ‘Ecclesiastical History’.

The face of Christ in this portrait has a serene countenance, long hair, and a forked beard. From the tenth century onwards, this image circulated among different Christian groups and the Russian Orthodox Church still uses this image of Jesus widely.

A painting of the cloth of Edessa kept in St Catherine's Monastery, Egypt

The Veronica

According to the apocryphal gospels, the bleeding woman whom canonical gospels describe as the one who touched the tunic of Christ and got healed, is Veronica. The legend is that she gave Christ a cloth to wipe his face, which was covered in blood from the wounds caused by the crown of thorns he was wearing, as he walked to the Calvary. When Jesus wiped his face with the cloth, his face became imprinted on it. This is the relic named Veronica. The cloth that is believed to be the original has been kept in the Basilica of St Peter in Rome since time unknown. However, the very few art historians and religious historians who got an opportunity to see this picture say that it has faded so completely that only the beard is decipherable to the viewer’s eye. There are many copies of the same picture as depicted in paintings from the days of early Christianity.

The supposedly original cloth of Veronica kept in Vatican

The Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin, believed by some to be the actual burial cloth of Jesus, is a long piece of linen with a vague image of a man imprinted on it. It has been kept in a climate-controlled case in the Duomo of the Turin Cathedral in Italy since 1578. A fading image of a man’s full-size frontal imprint is there on half of the shroud and on the other half, an image that looks like the back of a human body has been imprinted; as if a dead man’s body was put on it lengthwise and the rest of the cloth was used to cover his body and the body image somehow got magically imprinted on it. There are blood stains on the shroud which some say correspond to the wounds of Jesus Christ. The cloth is 4.3 metres long and 1.1 metres wide. The last time a test was carried out on this cloth was in 1988 when 3 laboratories independently concluded that the age of the cloth corresponds between 1260 and 1390.

The first mention of the shroud in history is from the middle of the 14th century and soon the shroud began to be exhibited for public viewing. Initially, the Popes of the Vatican had denounced it as a forgery. Later Popes however accepted it as a holy relic. Many believers and Christian scholars to this day have questioned the carbon dating results of 1988 and demanded more advanced studies.

The face on the Shroud of Turin resembles the Jesus image that we are familiar with in modern times with long hair and a beard.

Image believed to be of Jesus, on the Shroud of Turin

The Manoppello Image of Jesus Christ

The Manoppello image, thought to be that of Jesus, is imprinted on a piece of cloth just like the Veronica image. There were contesting claims made that one of these images was the original and the other one, a copy. A few studies, both scientific and religious, argued that the face on the Shroud of Turin when superimposed upon the Manoppello image, matches even minute details. The Manoppello image is 24 centimetres in height and 17.5 centimetres wide. It is kept in the Santuario del Volto Santo church in Manoppello, Italy. Religious authorities concerned have not yet allowed any material part of the cloth to be subjected to a scientific study to determine its age.

Manoppello image

Jesus of Diversity and Inclusion

Jesus Christ was a Jew. He lived in the Roman period in the Middle East. Many view the white Jesus as a racist cultural construct. Joan E Taylor wrote a book titled, “What Did Jesus Look Like?’.On the first page itself, there Jesus is, in a painting by Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano, created in 1500 CE. In this painting, the face of Jesus looks more Middle-Eastern than what we see in the currently circulating paintings where he is an unmistakably white European man. The long robes, long hair, and beard complete our current mental picture of him. Each culture has depicted Jesus in a way that reflects the facial features of its people.

The Black Nazarene in Minor Basilica in the Philippines is believed to have been created by an unknown Mexican artist. This sculpture of Jesus has dark skin.

Black Nazarene

The 6th century painting of Jesus famously known as Christ Pantocrater is located in the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul. The meaning of the word, pantocrator, is the ruler of all.

Black Nazarene

Tomb of Jesus: First Look

The face of Christ in the renowned painter El Greco’s ‘Christ Carrying the Cross’ painting looks entirely different from another equally famous painter Caravaggio’s image of Christ in the painting, ‘Supper of Emmaus’.

'Christ Carrying the Cross' painting by El Greco

Rembrandt’s 1640 painting, ‘Head of Christ’ pictures an utterly human and secular Jesus without religious symbolism.

‘Head of Christ’: Painting by Rembrandt: 1640

Paul Gaugin’s ‘The Yellow Christ’ once again reminds us how the image of Jesus interacts with different cultures and different artistic traditions.

‘Supper of Emmaus’ painting by Caravaggio

Father John Guiliani, a painter and a Catholic priest, has painted Jesus in the form and attire of Native Americans.

Vincent Barzoni, a black artist, painted Jesus as a black man.

Paul Gaugin’s ‘The Yellow Christ’

Jesus as a Black Woman

Another unique artistic portrait of Jesus was made by the painter, Janet McKenzie, titled, ‘Jesus of the People’. In this painting, Jesus is a black woman.

'Head of Christ' by Warner Salmon

However, the most popular and copied image of Jesus could be a painting of Jesus by Warner Sallman, titled, ‘Head of Christ’. In this painting, Jesus is a white man with a gentle face, dark blond hair and blue eyes.

White-skinned or dark-skinned, blue, brown or black-eyed, the truth is, Jesus is an idea for all rather than a face- an idea about ultimate kindness, divinity, hope, and sacrifice.

References

Joan E Taylor, 2018, What Did Jesus Look Like?, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Harris Cowper, 2006, The Apocryphal Gospels: And Other Documents Relating to the History of Jesus Christ, Wipf and Stock Publishers.

Mark Guskin, 2009, The Image of Edessa, Brill Publishers.

Shroud of Turin, britannica.com

Mark D Ellison and Robin M Jenson, 2018, The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Art, Taylor & Francis.

Owen Jarus, June 12, 2017, 1600-year-old Paintings of Christ Discovered in Roman Catacombs, livescience.com

Symbol of Christ as Good Shepherd, earlychurchhistory.org

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.