Depiction of Jesus

The oldest surviving panel icon of Christ Pantocrator, encaustic on panel, c. 6th century.

The depiction of Jesus in art took several centuries to reach a conventional standardized form for his physical appearance, which has subsequently remained largely stable since that time. Most images of Jesus have in common a number of traits which are now almost universally associated with Jesus, although variants are seen.

The image of a fully-bearded Jesus with long hair did not become established until the 6th century in Eastern Christianity, and much later in the West. Earlier images were much more varied. Images of Jesus tend to show ethnic characteristics similar to those of the culture in which the image has been created. Beliefs that certain images are historically authentic, or have acquired an authoritative status from church tradition, remain powerful among some of the faithful, in both Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. The Shroud of Turin is now the best-known example, though the Image of Edessa and the Veil of Veronica were better known in medieval times.

Early Christianity

Incised sarcophagus slab with the Adoration of the Magi from the Catacombs of Rome, 3rd century. Plaster cast with added colour.

Before Constantine

No physical description of Jesus is contained in any of the canonical Gospels. During the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire, Christian art was necessarily furtive and ambiguous, and there was hostility to idols in a group still with a large component of members with Jewish origins, surrounded by, and polemicising against, sophisticated pagan images of gods. Clement of Alexandria (d. 215) and Eusebius of Caesarea (d. ca. 339) disapproved of portrayals in images of Jesus and the issue remained the subject of some controversy until the end of the 4th century.^[1]

The earliest surviving Christian art comes from the late 2nd to early 4th centuries on the walls of tombs belonging, most likely, to wealthy ^[2] Christians in the catacombs of Rome, although from literary evidence there may well have been panel icons which, like almost all classical painting, have disappeared.

Baptism of Christ, fragment from the Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter, c. 330

Initially Jesus was represented indirectly by pictogram symbols such as the Ichthys (fish), the peacock, or an anchor (the Labarum or Chi-Rho was a later development). Later personified symbols were used, including Jonah, whose three days in the belly of the whale pre-figured the interval between Christ's death and Resurrection; Daniel in the lion's den; or Orpheus charming the animals.^[3] The Tomb of the Julii has a famous but unique mosaic of Christ as Sol Invictus, a sun-god.^[4] The image of "The Good Shepherd", a beardless youth in pastoral scenes collecting sheep, was the commonest of these images, and was probably not understood as a portrait of the historical Jesus at this period.^[5] It continues the classical Kriophoros, and in some cases may also represent the Shepherd of Hermas, a popular Christian literary work of the 2nd century.^[6]

Among the earliest depictions clearly intended to directly represent Jesus himself are many showing him as a baby, usually held by his mother, especially in the Adoration of the Magi, seen as the first theophany, or display of the incarnate Christ to the world at large.^[7]

The appearance of Jesus had some theological implications. While some Christians thought Jesus should have the beautiful appearance of a young classical hero,^[8] and the Gnostics tended to think he could change his appearance at will, for which they cited the Meeting at Emmaus as evidence,^[9] others including the Church Fathers Justin (d.165) and Tertullian (d.220) believed, following Isaiah:53:2, that Christ's appearance was unremarkable:^[10] "he had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should delight in him." But when the pagan Celsus ridiculed the Christian religion for having an ugly God in about 180, Origen (d. 248) cited Psalm 45:3: "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, mighty one, with thy beauty and fairness"^[11] Later the emphasis of leading Christian thinkers changed; Jerome (d.420) and Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) argued that Jesus must have been ideally beautiful in face and body. For Augustine he was "beautiful as a child, beautiful on earth, beautiful in heaven."

Bearded Jesus between Peter and Paul, Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter, Rome. Second half of the 4th century. Such works "first present us with the fully formed image of Christ in Majesty that will so dominate Byzantine art"^[12] For detail of Christ, see [2].

After Constantine

From the 3rd century onwards, the first narrative scenes from the Life of Christ to be clearly seen are the Baptism of Christ, painted in a catacomb in about 200,^[13] and the miracle of the Raising of Lazarus,^[14], both of which can be clearly identified by the inclusion of the dove of the Holy Spirit in Baptisms, and the vertical, shroud-wrapped body of Lazarus. Other scenes remain ambiguous - an agape feast may be intended as a Last Supper, but before the development of a recognised physical appearance for Christ, and attributes such as the halo, it is impossible to tell, as tituli or captions are rarely used. There are some surviving scenes from Christ's Works of about 235 from the "baptistery" at Dura Europos on the Persian frontier of the Empire. During the 4th century a much greater number of scenes came to be depicted,^[15] usually showing Christ as youthful, beardless and with short hair that does not reach his shoulders, although there is considerable variance.^[16] Jesus is sometimes shown performing miracles by means of a wand,^[17] as on the doors of Santa Sabina in Rome (430-32). He uses the wand to change water to wine, multiply the bread and fishes, and raise Lazarus.^[18] When pictured healing, he only lays on hands. The wand is thought to be a symbol of power. The bare-faced youth with the wand may indicate that Jesus was thought of as a user of magic or wonder worker by some of the early Chrisitians.^[19][20] No art has been found picturing Jesus with a wand before the 2nd century. Some scholars suggest that the Gospel of Mark, The Secret Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John, (the so-called Signs Gospel), portray such a wonder worker, user of magic, a magician or a Divine man.^[21] Only the Apostle Peter is also depicted in ancient art with a wand.^[20]

Another depiction, seen from the late 3rd century or early 4th century onwards, showed Jesus with a beard, and within a few decades can be very close to the conventional type that later emerged.^[22] This depiction has been said to draw variously on Imperial imagery, the type of the classical philosopher,^[23] and that of Zeus, leader of the Greek gods, or Jupiter, his Roman equivalent,^[24] and the protector of Rome. According to art historian Paul Zanker, the bearded type has long hair from the start, and a relatively long beard (contrasting with the short "classical" beard and hair always given to St Peter, and most other apostles)^[25]; this depiction is specifically associated with "Charismatic" philosophers like Euphrates the Stoic, Dio of Prusa and Apollonius of Tyana, some of whom were claimed to perform miracles.^[26] After the very earliest examples of c. 300, this depiction is mostly used for hieratic images of Jesus, and scenes from his life are more likely to use a beardless, youthful type.^[27] The tendency of older scholars such as Talbot Rice to see the beardless Jesus as associated with a "classical" artistic style and the bearded one as representing an "Eastern" one drawing from ancient Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia seems impossible to sustain, and does not feature in more recent analyses. Equally attempts to relate on a consistent basis the explanation for the type chosen in a particular work to the differing theological views of the time have been unsuccessful.^[28] From the 3rd century on, some Christian leaders, such as Clement of Alexandria had recommended the wearing of beards by Christian men.^[29] The centre parting was also seen from early on, and was also associated with long-haired philosophers.

Late 4th century mosaic of Christ as a teacher (traditio legis), drawing on classical images of philosophers

From the middle of the 4th century, after Christianity was legalized by the Edict of Milan in 313, and gained Imperial favour, there was a new range of images of Christ the King,^[30] using either of the two physical types described above, but adopting the costume and often the poses of Imperial iconography. These developed into the various forms of Christ in Majesty. Some scholars reject the connection between the political events and developments in iconography, seeing the change as a purely theological one, resulting from the shift of the concept and title of Pantocrator ("Ruler of all") from God the Father (still not portrayed in art) to Christ, which was a development of the same period, perhaps led by Athanasius of Alexandria (d. 373).^[31]

Another depiction drew from classical images of philosophers, often shown as a youthful "intellectual wunderkind" in Roman sarcophagii; the Traditio Legis image initially uses this type.^[32] Gradually Jesus became shown as older, and during the 5th century the image with a beard and long hair, now with a cruciform halo, came to dominate, especially in the Eastern Empire. In the earliest large New Testament mosaic cycle, in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna (ca. 520), Jesus is beardless though the period of his ministry until the scenes of the Passion, after which he is shown with a beard.^[33]

Christ as Emperor, wearing military dress, and crushing the serpent representing Satan. "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6) reads the inscription. Ravenna, after 500

The Good Shepherd, now clearly identified as Christ, with halo and often rich robes, is still depicted, as 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, or in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia at Ravenna.

Once the bearded, long-haired Jesus became the conventional representation of Jesus, his facial features slowly began to be standardised, although this process took until at least the 6th century in the Eastern Church, and much longer in the West, where clean-shaven Jesuses are common until the 12th century, despite the influence of Byzantine art.

French scholar Paul Vignon has listed fifteen similarities (like tilaka) between most of the icons of Jesus after this point, particularly in 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 to the Shroud of Turin) to the artists. Certainly images believed to have miraculous origins, or the Hodegetria, believed to be a portrait of Mary from the life by Saint Luke, were widely regarded as authoritative by the Early Medieval period and greatly influenced depictions. In Eastern Orthodoxy the form of images was, and largely is, regarded as revealed truth, with a status almost equal to scripture, and the aim of artists is to copy earlier images without originality, although the style and content of images does in fact change slightly over time.

As to the historical appearance of Jesus, the apostle Paul urges first century Christian men not to have long hair.^[34] Jesus was a practicing Jew so presumably had a beard.

Alexamenos graffito

Engraving of a crucified donkey believed to be an early anti-Christian graffito, it reads: "Alexamenos worships [his] god."

A very early image generally thought to be a representation of Jesus is the Alexamenos graffito, a unique piece of wall graffiti near the Palatine hill in Rome. The inscription has been ascribed dates ranging from from the 1st to the 3rd centuries AD.^{[35][36][37][38][39]} It was apparently drawn by a Roman soldier to mock another soldier who was a Christian. The caption reads, in Greek, "Alexamenos worships [his] 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,^{[clarification needed]} so that the image would be at once anti-Semitic and anti-Christian. A small minority of scholars dispute whether this image depicts Jesus, proposing that this image may be a reference to another deity.^[37]

Conventional depictions

Conventional depictions of Christ developed in medieval art include the narrative scenes of the Life of Christ, and many other conventional depictions:

Narrative scenes from the Life of Christ include:

• Nativity of Jesus in art
• Adoration of the Shepherds
• Adoration of the Magi
• Christ among the doctors
• Baptism of Jesus
• Crucifixion of Jesus
• Descent from the Cross
• Last Judgement

Devotional images include:

• Madonna and child
• Christ in Majesty
• Christ Pantokrator
• Sacred Heart
• Pieta (mother and dead son)
• Lamb of God
• Man of sorrows
• Pensive Christ

Range of depictions

An 18th century Ethiopian image of Jesus

Certain local traditions have maintained different depictions, sometimes reflecting local racial characteristics, as of course do the Catholic and Orthodox depictions. The Coptic Church of Egypt separated in the 5th century, and has a distinctive depiction of Jesus, consistent with Coptic art. The Ethiopian Church, also Coptic, developed on Coptic traditions, but shows Jesus and all Biblical figures with the black African appearance of its members. Other traditions in Asia and elsewhere also show the race of Jesus as that of the local population (see Chinese picture in the gallery below). In modern times such variation has become more common, but images following the traditional depiction in both physical appearance and clothing are still dominant, perhaps surprisingly so. Within Europe, local ethnic tendencies in depictions of Jesus can be seen, for example in Spanish, German, or Early Netherlandish painting, but almost always surrounding figures are still more strongly characterised. For example, the Virgin Mary, after the vision reported by Bridget of Sweden, was often shown with blonde hair, but Christ's is very rarely paler than a light brown.

Some medieval Western depictions, usually of the Meeting at Emmaus, where his disciples do not recognise him at first (Luke.24.13-32), showed Jesus wearing a Jewish hat.^[40]

Miraculous images

Secondo Pia's negative of his photo of the Shroud of Turin. Many Christians believe this image to be the Holy Face of Jesus

There are, however, some images which have been claimed to realistically show how Jesus looked. One early tradition, recorded by Eusebius of Caesarea, 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 or Image of Edessa, 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.^{[citation needed]}

The current image used by the Vatican is based on the Shroud of Turin, whose records go back to 1353. Controversy still surrounds the Shroud of Turin and some have speculated it to be the same image as the Mandylion of Edessa, which disappeared in the wars surrounding the fall of the Byzantine Empire shortly before then. The image from the Shroud of Turin is based on amateur photographer Secondo Pia's photograph of 1898 and is used by the Vatican as part of the official Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. The image can not be clearly seen on the Shroud of Turin with the naked eye and surprised Pia to the extent that he stated that he almost dropped and broke the photographic plate when he first saw the developed image on it the evening of May 28, 1898.

Prior to 1898 devotions to the Holy Face of Jesus used an image based on the Veil of Veronica, where legend recounts that Veronica from Jerusalem encountered Jesus along the Via Dolorosa on the way to Calvary. When she paused to wipe the sweat from Jesus's face with her veil, the image was imprinted on the cloth.

The establishment of these images as Catholic devotions traces back to Sister Marie of St Peter and the Venerable Leo Dupont who started and promoted them from 1844 to 1874 in Tours France, and Sister Maria Pierina De Micheli who associated the image from the Shroud of Turin with the devotion in 1936 in Milan Italy.

There are also icon compositions of Jesus and Mary that are traditionally believed by many Orthodox to have originated in paintings by Luke the Evangelist.

Jesus in Islam

Several Hadith quote the prophet Muhammad describing Isa (the Islamic name of Jesus) as he appeared in a dream, and during Muhammad's ascension to Heaven:

"Narrated Abdullah: The Prophet mentioned...While sleeping near the Ka'ba last night, I saw in my dream a man of brown color the best one can see amongst brown color and his hair was long that it fell between his shoulders. His hair was lank and water was dribbling from his head and he was placing his hands on the shoulders of two men while circumambulating the Kaba. I asked, 'Who is this?' They replied, 'This is Jesus, son of Mary.'" (Bukhari 4:55:649)

"Narrated Salim from his father: No, By Allah, the Prophet did not tell that Jesus was of red complexion but said, "While I was asleep circumambulating the Ka'ba (in my dream), suddenly I saw a man of brown complexion and lank hair walking between two men, and water was dropping from his head. I asked, 'Who is this?' The people said, 'He is the son of Mary.'" (Bukhari 4:55:650)

"Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "On the night of my Ascension to Heaven...I saw Jesus who was of average height with red face as if he had just come out of a bathroom." (Bukhari 4:55:607)

Examples

The Good Shepherd, a common image, probably not intended as a portrait of the historical Jesus. Ceiling of S. Callisto catacomb, mid 3rd century.	A representation of Jesus as the sun-god Helios/Sol Invictus riding in his chariot. Mosaic of the 3rd century on the Vatican grottoes under St. Peter's Basilica.	Mural painting from the catacomb of Commodilla. One of the first bearded images of Jesus, late 4th century.	Jesus depicted on an early 8th-century Byzantine coin. After the Byzantine iconoclasm all coins had Christ on them.
11th-century Christ Pantocrator with the halo in a cross form, used throughout the Middle Ages. Characteristically, he is portrayed as similar in features and skin tone to the culture of the artist.	Christ in majesty, still with no beard, from an English 12th century illuminated manuscript.	An unusual image of Jesus as a medieval knight bearing an attributed coat of arms based on the Veil of Veronica	The Baptism of Christ, by Piero della Francesca, 1449.
Christ as Man of Sorrows by Andrea Mantegna	Christ Carrying the Cross, 1580, by El Greco	An traditional Ethiopian depiction of Jesus and Mary with distinctively "Ethiopian" features.	Jesus, aged 12, in discussion with scholars at the Temple, by José Ribera.
A Chinese depiction of Jesus and the rich man, from Mark chapter 10.	A mural depicting the baptism of Jesus in a typical Haitian rural scenery, Cathédrale de Sainte Trinité, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.	The Divine Mercy painting by Adolf Hyla (1943).The polish writing at the bottom means "Jesus I trust in you"

Sculpture

Christ in Majesty, Chartres Cathedral	Michelangelo's Pietà shows Mary holding the dead body of Jesus.	Cristo de la Concordia in Bolivia is the largest statue of Jesus ever made.	Cristo del Otero, above Palencia, Spain
Statue at Santuario di Oropa, Italy	4 ton bronze statue of Jesus placed high in the Andes mountains, on a road between Chile and Argentina.	Bertel Thorvaldsen's Christus, Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen	Infant Jesus of Prague, one of several miniature statues of an infant Christ that are much venerated by the faithful.

See also

A series of articles on
Jesus Christ and Christianity Chronology · Virgin Birth Ministry · Miracles · Parables Death · Resurrection Second Coming · Christology Names and titles · Relics · Active obedience
Cultural/historical background Language spoken · Race Genealogy
Perspectives on Jesus Biblical · Religious Christian · Lutheran Jewish · Islamic Ahmadi · Scientology
Jesus and history Historicity · In myth Historical Jesus · Research
Jesus in culture Depiction · Music This box: view • talk • edit

• Race of Jesus
• Crucifixion
• Holy card
• Perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena
• Salvator Mundi
• Veil of Veronica

Notes

1. ^ Hellemo,pp. 3-6, and Cartlidge and Elliott, 61 (Eusebius quotation) and passim. Clement approved the use of symbolic pictograms.
2. ^ The Second Church: Popular Christianity A.D. 200-400 by Ramsay MacMullen, The Society of Biblical Literature, 2009
3. ^ Orpheus as a symbol for David was already found in hellenized Jewish art. Hall, 66
4. ^ Cartlidge and Elliott, who cite Ephesians 5:14 and another Christian text.
5. ^ Syndicus, 21-3
6. ^ Cartlidge and Elliott, 53-55. See also The Two Faces of Jesus by Robin M. Jensen, Bible Review, 17.8, October 2002, and Understanding Early Christian Art by Robin M. Jensen, Routledge, 2000
7. ^ Hall, 70-71
8. ^ Zanker, 299
9. ^ Every, George; Christian Mythology,p. 65, Hamlyn 1988 (1970 1st edn.) ISBN 06003249005
10. ^ Syndicus, 92
11. ^ Cartlidge and Elliott, 53 - this is Psalm 44 in the Latin Vulgate; English bible translations prefer "glory" and "majesty"
12. ^ Zanker, 302.
13. ^ Schiller, I 132. The image comes from the crypt of Lucina in the Catacombs_of_San_Callisto. There are a number of other 3rd century images.
14. ^ Painted over 40 times in the catacombs of Rome, from the early 3rd century on, and also on sarcophagii. As with the Baptism, some early examples are from Gaul. Schiller, I, 181
15. ^ Syndicus, 94-5
16. ^ Syndicus, 92-3, Catacomb images
17. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Portraits of the Apostles". http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12294b.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-10. 
18. ^ Cartlidge and Elliott, 60
19. ^ The Two Faces of Jesus by Robin M. Jensen, Bible Review, 17.8, Oct 2002
20. ^ ^{a b} New Catholic Encyclopedia: Portraits of the Apostles
21. ^ Jesus, the Magician by Morton Smith, Harper & Row, 1978
22. ^ Zanker, 302
23. ^ Zanker, 300-303, who is rather dismissive of other origins for the type
24. ^ Syndicus, 93
25. ^ Cartlidge and Elliott, 56-57. St Paul often has a long beard, but short hair, as in the catacomb fresco illustrated. St John the Baptist also often has long hair and a beard, and often retains in later art the thick shaggy or wavy long hair seen on some of the earliest depictions of Jesus, and in images of philosophers of the Charismatic type.
26. ^ Zanker, 257-266 on the charismatics; 299-306 on the type used for Christ
27. ^ Zanker,p. 299, note 48, and 300. [1]. See also Cartlidge and Elliott, 55-61.
28. ^ Grabar, 119
29. ^ Zanker, 290
30. ^ Syndicus, 92-7, though images of Christ the King are found in the previous century also - Hellemo, 6
31. ^ Hellemo, 7-14, citing K. Berger in particular.
32. ^ Zanker, 299. Zanker has a full account of the development of the image of Christ at pp 289-307.
33. ^ The two parts of the cycle are on opposite walls of the nave; Talbot Rice, 157. Bridgeman Library
34. ^ 1 Corinthians 11:7: 1 Cor 11:7
35. ^ Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, p. 244
36. ^ David L. Balch, Carolyn Osiek, Early Christian Families in Context: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003, p. 103
37. ^ ^{a b} B. Hudson MacLean, An introduction to Greek epigraphy of the Hellenistic and Roman periods from Alexander the Great down to the reign of Constantine, University of Michigan Press, 2002, p. 208
38. ^ p. 207
39. ^ http://faculty.bbc.edu/rdecker/alex_graffito.htm
40. ^ A 12th century English example is in the Getty Museum

References

• Cartlidge, David R., and Elliott, J.K.. Art and the Christian Apocrypha, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0415233925, 9780415233927, Google books
• Every, George; Christian Mythology, Hamlyn 1988 (1970 1st edn.) ISBN 06003249005
• Grabar, André; Christian iconography: a study of its origins, Taylor & Francis, 1968, ISBN 0710006055, 9780710006059 Google books
• James Hall, A History of Ideas and Images in Italian Art, 1983, John Murray, London, ISBN 0719539714
• Hellemo, Geir. Adventus Domini: eschatological thought in 4th-century apses and catecheses, BRILL, 1989, ISBN 9004088369, 9789004088368
• G Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. I,1971 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, ISBN 853312702
• Eduard Syndicus; Early Christian Art; Burns & Oates, London, 1962
• David Talbot Rice, Byzantine Art, 3rd edn 1968, Penguin Books Ltd
• Zanker, Paul. [3]. The Mask of Socrates, The Image of the Intellectual in Antiquity, University of California Press, 1995 Online Scholarship editions

External links

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