Christ in Gethsemane by Heinrich Hoffmann

I always (or since my 30s, anyway) thought I knew exactly Who Jesus is—God the Son, second Person of the Holy Trinity, born of a virgin, died to redeem us, etc. But lately, my very traditional view of him is being challenged. I still believe in Him, but I’m seeking to know Him better.

So instead of me telling you all about Him, let’s look at some artists’ depictions of Him. In my white American parochial upbringing, I imagined he looked very much like the paintings in this article.

Salvador Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci

Christ Carrying the Cross by Titian

The problem with all of these portraits is that they look like a white guy, which Jesus certainly wasn’t. He probably looked like a Middle Eastern brown-skinned Jew.

On the other hand, people often relate to a Jesus who looks more like themselves. Here are some alternate imaginings (sorry, to avoid copyright issues, I’m sending you to other sites):

• by Vincent Barzoni
• by Stanley Rayfield
• by Sofia Minson
• scroll through here for some more multi-cultural images of Jesus.
• One of the most haunting portraits I’ve ever seen of the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) is La Sagrada Familia by Kelly Lattimore.

Bottom line is, we don’t know exactly what Jesus looked like. As far as we know, He didn’t sit for a portrait during His earthly life. Does it matter? No. Is it okay for artists to portray Him as they imagine Him? Of course.