Many of you may remember that I did a Crucifixion Collection a year ago where I analyzed and examined various different art pieces depicting the Crucifixion. I have decided to do this again, but this time with close ups of Jesus.
One of the oldest paintings of Jesus Christ is Orthodox. The Christ Procantor typically features Jesua holding a book in his left hand, which I believe to the Book of Life. The Lord's right hand features his thumb, ring fing and pinky coming together. This could denote the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This art piece which is mosaic features the austere and solemn expression which can be found in almost all Orthodox paintings of Jesus. The reason for this could be twofold; the first being the more likely, that like pictures back in the day, people could not smile lest it cause a problem with painting or taking a picture. The second is that the Orthodox are being reverential and ensuring that Christ looks regal. Finally, there is prominate halo behind the Lord's heard featuring a Cross and the Greek words on either side which stand for "Alpha and Omega". Also, the Lord is wearing blue which is common in Greek Orthodox tradition.
Jesus Christ Sacred Heart is a common painting in Catholicism. The tradition behind the Sacred Heart is veneration of God's love and the symbol being His heart with a crown of thorns around it, a wound in side from the spear that pierced His side (sometimes the spear is depicted) and the heart aflame to denonte the Lord's passionate love for his people. This painting is clearly more three dimensional than the icons of Orthodoxy. Jesus' hair and beard here has the more traditional look Protestants are familiar with; that being long and curley. In this painting we can see the wounds in the Lord's hands featured prominatly, which plays to the Sacred heart which has images of his suffering. In this portrait Jesus is wearing red which has double meaning; red for his blood which he poured out for our sins because He loves us and because red is the color used by the Roman Catholic Church. The style of this painting is very Neo-Classical with a hint of realism.
This painting of Jesus Christ is most unique. It features a Jesus with red hair, which is an old tradition dating back to before the Middle Ages. I detect some Irish influences, which could mean that this is painting of Jesus by an Irish Catholic or for Irish Catholics. The halo behind Christ's head is featured very prominently in gold with gems, which fron iconography stand point means this paintings if focusing on His holiness . The painting has a Byzantine quality to it and yet there is motion in it which is three dimensional and denotes that it is from a much later period. The gold outlining of Jesus' white tunic looks like that of priest's which could be an allusion to that Jesus is "our high priest, of the order of Mechizedek." (Hebrews 7: 1-28). The white robe could denote the Risen Christ or the Transfigured Christ. The white also likely signifies purity, that Jesus never sinned. The combination of the white and gold would allude to Russian influence on the painting. Finally, the white with golden sash could allude to Jesus' description in the Book of Revelation, Chapter One.
Many brothers and sisters in the Protestant Churches will recognize this portrait of Christ. This painting of Jesus features no halo or iconography found in Catholicism or Orthodoxy. This is deliberate because Protestants wanted to distant themselves from the Church of Rome and emphasis a Jesus without all the gold, symbols, and Latin. Here we see a simple Jesus with the traditionally long wavy hair, beard, and white robe. The background is rather plain and does not distract from Jesus. You can certainly see the subtitles of the 1950's or even 1930's here; brown being a common color used in those days for churches and artwork.
Yeshua (Jesus) Ha'Mashiach (The Messiah). There has been a desire to restore the Jewish roots of Jesus and his disciples. Here we can see Jesus wear a hooded Tallid (Jewish prayer shawl) and bowing his head in the traditional custom. Most of his face is obscured, but we can see a beard and an intense expression on his face; perhaps this is suppose to be when He was at Gethsemane or before He clears the Temple of the thieves and extorters. Then again it could be right before Jesus read the Isaiah scroll (most likely). I include this picture because it is likely Jesus did wear the prayer shawl when He visited the Temple in Jerusalem.
An icon of Jesus Christ. This is an official icon. The way you can tell the difference between a real icon and a reproduction is the texture of the Tempera paint. This has sheen and looks glossy, not perfect and seemless like plastic sealed ones they sell at gift shops. What is fascinating about icon making is that during the painting you have to crack open an egg and use the yoke on the face, this creates the golden coloring and halo behind Jesus' head. This particular painting features a less austere and serious Jesus. Here the eyes are excentuated like deep pools that never end. The halo is simple but not as subtle as the one in the Sacred Heart painting. Obviously this icon has been cut, we cannot see the bottom and Christ's hands bearly can be seen. This is either because someone did this via paint or adobe photoshop or deliberate by the icon maker to cause the focus to be on the Lord's face.
Rembrandt's Jesus. This is number nineteen of many potraits the master painter painted. Rembrandt painted many different positions of Christ's face so that he could insert them into full paintings of the The Last Supper, The Crucifixion, and etc. Rembrandt had a Jewish young man pose for the paintings because our Lord and Savior was a Jew from the line of David (Luke 1). This paiting features the long hair and beard that most depictions of Jesus have. Unusual is the outfit the Lord is wearing. Instead of the magnificent reds, blues, purple, and whites seen in most artwork, this Jesus is in a humble brown habit. This could be for several reasons. The first is that it was merely a staple color to blend with the background, so that Rembrandt could easily transfer the face to his other paintings. That is the most likely, but it cloud also denote the habit of a monk and that our Lord lived poor and said, "foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58). What is most haunting about this painting are the eyes, here is a close up:
Here we can see a heaviness of spirit; that Jesus is already suffering. This could be Rembrandt subtly showing us a glimpse into Christ' soul; that he knows He must suffer torture and excruciating death. For the Prophet Isiaah said, "The weight of the world was laid on his shoulders." (). Here we can see Rembrandt using his trademark lighting of a candle and a dark room. This makes Christ's face radiant and is a great contrast to the expression of sorrow and pain in his eyes and face.
Иисус Христос (Jesus Christ). This is a Russian painting of Jesus. Features is the traditional look of long brown hair and beard. Here we can see the Orthodox iconography or symbolism with the Book of Life in Christ's left hand. This is clearly Jesus Christ The Judge painting because you can see at the corners two pieces of the throne rising. This painting features a three dimensional element with the light rays coming towards to viewer, so it is not a traditional icon and the halo is uniquely white rather than the traditional gold. Jesus is wearing the white with golden design which was featured in the Irish style painting earlier. Finally, the face is darkened which is common with Russian potrayals of Jesus; in fact the oldest picture of Jesus in Russian art is a dark head of Christ.
Christ wearing the Crown of Thorns. Most portraits of Jesus as I have demonstrated have Jesus with long hair, a full beard, and a halo. This painting features Jesus in His suffering, with a crown of thorns instead of a halo. What is interesting about this painting is that Christ's beard is short or very thin. But the most prominate feature is the paleness of His body. Most pale pictures and paintings of Jesus are the Corpus or Dead Christ. However, as can be seen Jesus is alive and this paleness alludes to the lose of blood from scourging and that our Savior truly was dying to get to the cross. Fronesics and Arachelogy have discovered that the strain of the flogging on His body was so extensive that his heart had bursted and that the beam of one hundred pounds put on his back helped puncture his heart. The evidence of this is that water and blood came out when the Centurian speared his side. Lastly, in this portrait Jesus is looking up to His Father in Heaven, which indicates this is when he says, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46).
Christ blue eyed. Everything about this painting is traditional with some major exceptions. The hair and beard is long and wavy, but the hair is strawberry blond and most unique is the blue eyes that match the blue robe. It was common long ago for Jesus in paintings to have blue eyes. The reasoning came from extra Biblical historian Josephus who said, "He had light eyes and light hair." Most Nazarenes had blue eyes and blond hair according to archaeological archives. Contrary to Hollywood's depictions, Jews are often blue eyed and blond. I have been to Jerusalem and all over Israel and many of the people look like this painting of Jesus. Granted there are dark eyed and haired Jews, but you'd be surprised how many fit this depiction. A feature of this painting that is intriguing is that Jesus seems in daze or rather He is in deep contemplative thought. He does not seem in pain, but rather pondering.
African Jesus. This particular piece of artwork depicts Jesus with dark skin. It is possibly a mosaic and has major Byzantine influences. The origin is unknown and appears to be ancient, but it could be contemporary and done by an artist using old methods and mediums. Unique to this painting is Jesus' golden attire which was common for emperors and empresses of Byzantium to wear. The halo is plain and there are no symbols to identify this as Jesus, but the hair and beard are unmistakably similar to other paintings already featured and the face is stoic like the Orthodox paintings. The background is black which helps contrast with the golden halo and garments, but it could allude to the darkness of the world and how Jesus is the Light.
The Shroud of Turin. The Shroud of Turin is the cloth that was placed on Jesus Christ's face and body when He was buried in the Garden Tomb on Good Friday night. This shroud is believed to retain the imprint of Jesus' face and has been used for many of the Orthodox and Catholic paintings featured in this post. On the left is the originally shroud with the outline of Christ's face, medium being His dried blood! On the right is what happened when the shroud was photographed with flash device. While some scientists have tried to disprove the shroud as a hoax, their results have been inconclusive or falsified. I end this post with the shroud because it is the most famous piece of art and possible evidence left. The True Cross is gone. The Holy Grail has so many locations it is impossible to verify. The Lance or Spear that pierced Christ's side has seven twins all over the world ranging from the Vatican itself to the former museum of Nurnberg in Germany. The Shroud of Turin survives and to this day captivates the speculation of believers and unbelievers alike.
The artwork examined in this post is testament to how people have envisioned and see Jesus Christ. Each person who looks at the different pieces will find themselves gravitating to certain paintings. Each art piece is a window into the divine. None of them can do the Savior justice, because His features, especially that which lies in his loving eyes is impossible to capture or fathom. What we see with these masterpieces of Tempera, Canvas, Mosaic, Fresco, and Oil is but an echo or fragment of what Jesus looks like. These are perceptions of people and what they expect, envision, and even experienced Jesus to look like. Honestly the actual description of Jesus is not found in the Bible, save for the Revelation description of Him:
"I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven lampstands and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in robe down to his feet with a golden sash around His chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like blazing fire." (Revelation 1: 12-15). This description is also what the Prophet Daniel saw, "The Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white and the hair of his head white as wool." (Daniel 7:9). In fact Daniel's vision lines up with John's verbatim.
Jesus Christ Revelation. In this painting Christ is surrounded by the symbols described in Chapter 1 of John's Apocalypse. The colors of gold and white are featured prominently. Jesus' hair is white as wool and in his left hand he holds the Seven Stars. This is one of the few paintings of Christ from Revelation. The other painting features the Lord upon a white steed ready for battle. This particular painting does not feature the flaming eyes. Is this the Transfigured Christ that Peter and John saw? Is it the Ressurected Jesus that the two men on the road to Damascus saw and ate with? In their case they did not recognize Christ and this could be why. Jesus obviously did not look like this in 30 A.D. leading up to his death. In fact, the Greek scrolls of the Gospels describe Jesus as uncomely; that no one would have been drawn to Him by his mere appearance. Therefore the Revelation 1 state of Jesus must be His Transfigured or Return appearance. I believe the Word of God and the description was taken down by the Prophet Daniel and Apostle John for a reason.
The truth is when Jesus is seen most forget the features because they become overwhelmed by His love. In the eyes of Christ is love beyond measure, it is beyond articulation and its weight on the human soul and wit causes people to forget the exact details of his hair, skin, and eye color. What matters is that we know Jesus Christ is alive! That He is Risen and He is with all who believe! Our Lord and Savior is not just a painting, His very presence is with those whom He loves! I hope this collection of paintings provokes some thought.
One of the oldest paintings of Jesus Christ is Orthodox. The Christ Procantor typically features Jesua holding a book in his left hand, which I believe to the Book of Life. The Lord's right hand features his thumb, ring fing and pinky coming together. This could denote the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This art piece which is mosaic features the austere and solemn expression which can be found in almost all Orthodox paintings of Jesus. The reason for this could be twofold; the first being the more likely, that like pictures back in the day, people could not smile lest it cause a problem with painting or taking a picture. The second is that the Orthodox are being reverential and ensuring that Christ looks regal. Finally, there is prominate halo behind the Lord's heard featuring a Cross and the Greek words on either side which stand for "Alpha and Omega". Also, the Lord is wearing blue which is common in Greek Orthodox tradition.
Jesus Christ Sacred Heart is a common painting in Catholicism. The tradition behind the Sacred Heart is veneration of God's love and the symbol being His heart with a crown of thorns around it, a wound in side from the spear that pierced His side (sometimes the spear is depicted) and the heart aflame to denonte the Lord's passionate love for his people. This painting is clearly more three dimensional than the icons of Orthodoxy. Jesus' hair and beard here has the more traditional look Protestants are familiar with; that being long and curley. In this painting we can see the wounds in the Lord's hands featured prominatly, which plays to the Sacred heart which has images of his suffering. In this portrait Jesus is wearing red which has double meaning; red for his blood which he poured out for our sins because He loves us and because red is the color used by the Roman Catholic Church. The style of this painting is very Neo-Classical with a hint of realism.
This painting of Jesus Christ is most unique. It features a Jesus with red hair, which is an old tradition dating back to before the Middle Ages. I detect some Irish influences, which could mean that this is painting of Jesus by an Irish Catholic or for Irish Catholics. The halo behind Christ's head is featured very prominently in gold with gems, which fron iconography stand point means this paintings if focusing on His holiness . The painting has a Byzantine quality to it and yet there is motion in it which is three dimensional and denotes that it is from a much later period. The gold outlining of Jesus' white tunic looks like that of priest's which could be an allusion to that Jesus is "our high priest, of the order of Mechizedek." (Hebrews 7: 1-28). The white robe could denote the Risen Christ or the Transfigured Christ. The white also likely signifies purity, that Jesus never sinned. The combination of the white and gold would allude to Russian influence on the painting. Finally, the white with golden sash could allude to Jesus' description in the Book of Revelation, Chapter One.
Many brothers and sisters in the Protestant Churches will recognize this portrait of Christ. This painting of Jesus features no halo or iconography found in Catholicism or Orthodoxy. This is deliberate because Protestants wanted to distant themselves from the Church of Rome and emphasis a Jesus without all the gold, symbols, and Latin. Here we see a simple Jesus with the traditionally long wavy hair, beard, and white robe. The background is rather plain and does not distract from Jesus. You can certainly see the subtitles of the 1950's or even 1930's here; brown being a common color used in those days for churches and artwork.
Yeshua (Jesus) Ha'Mashiach (The Messiah). There has been a desire to restore the Jewish roots of Jesus and his disciples. Here we can see Jesus wear a hooded Tallid (Jewish prayer shawl) and bowing his head in the traditional custom. Most of his face is obscured, but we can see a beard and an intense expression on his face; perhaps this is suppose to be when He was at Gethsemane or before He clears the Temple of the thieves and extorters. Then again it could be right before Jesus read the Isaiah scroll (most likely). I include this picture because it is likely Jesus did wear the prayer shawl when He visited the Temple in Jerusalem.
An icon of Jesus Christ. This is an official icon. The way you can tell the difference between a real icon and a reproduction is the texture of the Tempera paint. This has sheen and looks glossy, not perfect and seemless like plastic sealed ones they sell at gift shops. What is fascinating about icon making is that during the painting you have to crack open an egg and use the yoke on the face, this creates the golden coloring and halo behind Jesus' head. This particular painting features a less austere and serious Jesus. Here the eyes are excentuated like deep pools that never end. The halo is simple but not as subtle as the one in the Sacred Heart painting. Obviously this icon has been cut, we cannot see the bottom and Christ's hands bearly can be seen. This is either because someone did this via paint or adobe photoshop or deliberate by the icon maker to cause the focus to be on the Lord's face.
Here we can see a heaviness of spirit; that Jesus is already suffering. This could be Rembrandt subtly showing us a glimpse into Christ' soul; that he knows He must suffer torture and excruciating death. For the Prophet Isiaah said, "The weight of the world was laid on his shoulders." (). Here we can see Rembrandt using his trademark lighting of a candle and a dark room. This makes Christ's face radiant and is a great contrast to the expression of sorrow and pain in his eyes and face.
Иисус Христос (Jesus Christ). This is a Russian painting of Jesus. Features is the traditional look of long brown hair and beard. Here we can see the Orthodox iconography or symbolism with the Book of Life in Christ's left hand. This is clearly Jesus Christ The Judge painting because you can see at the corners two pieces of the throne rising. This painting features a three dimensional element with the light rays coming towards to viewer, so it is not a traditional icon and the halo is uniquely white rather than the traditional gold. Jesus is wearing the white with golden design which was featured in the Irish style painting earlier. Finally, the face is darkened which is common with Russian potrayals of Jesus; in fact the oldest picture of Jesus in Russian art is a dark head of Christ.
Christ wearing the Crown of Thorns. Most portraits of Jesus as I have demonstrated have Jesus with long hair, a full beard, and a halo. This painting features Jesus in His suffering, with a crown of thorns instead of a halo. What is interesting about this painting is that Christ's beard is short or very thin. But the most prominate feature is the paleness of His body. Most pale pictures and paintings of Jesus are the Corpus or Dead Christ. However, as can be seen Jesus is alive and this paleness alludes to the lose of blood from scourging and that our Savior truly was dying to get to the cross. Fronesics and Arachelogy have discovered that the strain of the flogging on His body was so extensive that his heart had bursted and that the beam of one hundred pounds put on his back helped puncture his heart. The evidence of this is that water and blood came out when the Centurian speared his side. Lastly, in this portrait Jesus is looking up to His Father in Heaven, which indicates this is when he says, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46).
Christ blue eyed. Everything about this painting is traditional with some major exceptions. The hair and beard is long and wavy, but the hair is strawberry blond and most unique is the blue eyes that match the blue robe. It was common long ago for Jesus in paintings to have blue eyes. The reasoning came from extra Biblical historian Josephus who said, "He had light eyes and light hair." Most Nazarenes had blue eyes and blond hair according to archaeological archives. Contrary to Hollywood's depictions, Jews are often blue eyed and blond. I have been to Jerusalem and all over Israel and many of the people look like this painting of Jesus. Granted there are dark eyed and haired Jews, but you'd be surprised how many fit this depiction. A feature of this painting that is intriguing is that Jesus seems in daze or rather He is in deep contemplative thought. He does not seem in pain, but rather pondering.
Armenian Jesus. This particular painting of the Prince of Peace is indeed peaceful. It was done by an Aremnain Artist. Armenians are among the oldest Christians, their country of Armenia was the first to adopt Christianity as their offical faith. This painting is stiking for one reason, Jesus is smiling! This is the first painting to bear the loving likeness of the Savior. This is what Jesus's countance is like towards those who believe in Him. This painting has an expressionistic and realist style combined. We can see light around Christ's hair, but not a halo. In fact, light seems to be all around Him, which alludes to what Jesus said of himself, "I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." (John 8:12).
African Jesus. This particular piece of artwork depicts Jesus with dark skin. It is possibly a mosaic and has major Byzantine influences. The origin is unknown and appears to be ancient, but it could be contemporary and done by an artist using old methods and mediums. Unique to this painting is Jesus' golden attire which was common for emperors and empresses of Byzantium to wear. The halo is plain and there are no symbols to identify this as Jesus, but the hair and beard are unmistakably similar to other paintings already featured and the face is stoic like the Orthodox paintings. The background is black which helps contrast with the golden halo and garments, but it could allude to the darkness of the world and how Jesus is the Light.
The Shroud of Turin. The Shroud of Turin is the cloth that was placed on Jesus Christ's face and body when He was buried in the Garden Tomb on Good Friday night. This shroud is believed to retain the imprint of Jesus' face and has been used for many of the Orthodox and Catholic paintings featured in this post. On the left is the originally shroud with the outline of Christ's face, medium being His dried blood! On the right is what happened when the shroud was photographed with flash device. While some scientists have tried to disprove the shroud as a hoax, their results have been inconclusive or falsified. I end this post with the shroud because it is the most famous piece of art and possible evidence left. The True Cross is gone. The Holy Grail has so many locations it is impossible to verify. The Lance or Spear that pierced Christ's side has seven twins all over the world ranging from the Vatican itself to the former museum of Nurnberg in Germany. The Shroud of Turin survives and to this day captivates the speculation of believers and unbelievers alike.
The artwork examined in this post is testament to how people have envisioned and see Jesus Christ. Each person who looks at the different pieces will find themselves gravitating to certain paintings. Each art piece is a window into the divine. None of them can do the Savior justice, because His features, especially that which lies in his loving eyes is impossible to capture or fathom. What we see with these masterpieces of Tempera, Canvas, Mosaic, Fresco, and Oil is but an echo or fragment of what Jesus looks like. These are perceptions of people and what they expect, envision, and even experienced Jesus to look like. Honestly the actual description of Jesus is not found in the Bible, save for the Revelation description of Him:
"I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven lampstands and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in robe down to his feet with a golden sash around His chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like blazing fire." (Revelation 1: 12-15). This description is also what the Prophet Daniel saw, "The Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white and the hair of his head white as wool." (Daniel 7:9). In fact Daniel's vision lines up with John's verbatim.
Jesus Christ Revelation. In this painting Christ is surrounded by the symbols described in Chapter 1 of John's Apocalypse. The colors of gold and white are featured prominently. Jesus' hair is white as wool and in his left hand he holds the Seven Stars. This is one of the few paintings of Christ from Revelation. The other painting features the Lord upon a white steed ready for battle. This particular painting does not feature the flaming eyes. Is this the Transfigured Christ that Peter and John saw? Is it the Ressurected Jesus that the two men on the road to Damascus saw and ate with? In their case they did not recognize Christ and this could be why. Jesus obviously did not look like this in 30 A.D. leading up to his death. In fact, the Greek scrolls of the Gospels describe Jesus as uncomely; that no one would have been drawn to Him by his mere appearance. Therefore the Revelation 1 state of Jesus must be His Transfigured or Return appearance. I believe the Word of God and the description was taken down by the Prophet Daniel and Apostle John for a reason.
The truth is when Jesus is seen most forget the features because they become overwhelmed by His love. In the eyes of Christ is love beyond measure, it is beyond articulation and its weight on the human soul and wit causes people to forget the exact details of his hair, skin, and eye color. What matters is that we know Jesus Christ is alive! That He is Risen and He is with all who believe! Our Lord and Savior is not just a painting, His very presence is with those whom He loves! I hope this collection of paintings provokes some thought.
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