What Did Jesus Look What Did Jesus Look Like?Like?

Content Content • What do you think Jesus looked likeWhat do you think Jesus looked like• Jesus in ArtJesus in Art• The real pictureThe real picture

Various Ideas!Various Ideas!

• Above are some different images of Jesus painted by various artists, why do you think they are different?

TASK

What do you think Jesus Looked like

On a blank piece of Paper draw your answer to this

questionOr

Write your answer on a piece of file paper

Your opinionYour opinion

In groups of 5

• Look at the pictures on the sheet. Which picture do you think looks most like Jesus? Give reasons for you answer.

• Which picture looks least like Jesus? Give reasons for your answer

• Feed your results back to the rest of the class.

Facts and opinionsFacts and opinions

• All the pictures you have just looked at are of Jesus, yet all are different.

• Is your answer right or wrong? Have you been guilty of talking about Jesus’ appearance as though you know what he looked like?

Facts and opinionsFacts and opinions

• Sometimes we think we know the facts about something, when what we are talking about are actually opinions

• What are facts and opinions – write a definition in your book.

Fact / OpinionFact / Opinion

Fact

An idea or piece of information for which there is plenty of evidence, the evidence is such that the idea or piece of information will mean the same thing to different people.

Opinion

An idea or a guess for which there may or may not be evidence. The person who gives an opinion may think he is right, but he has not proven it.

Which of these are facts and which Which of these are facts and which are opinions?are opinions?

• Mr Blair is the Priminister.

• Spiderman is a good film.

• The news is on BBC1 at 6p.m

• Jesus was a Jew

• Jesus existed

• Jesus resurrected

• Jesus had brown hair and a beard.

Many people think they know what Jesus looked like but all they really have is an opinion about his appearance. Sometimes that opinion comes from pictures which are an artists interpretation of what Jesus should look like.

An ‘Interpretation’ is a way of showing what you think something or someone is like. If you thought of Jesus as a leader then you could show him as someone tall and strong, with other men looking up at him.

The Face of JesusThe Face of Jesus

What did Jesus look like?

Christ's image has appeared in the art of cultures worldwide for nearly two millennia. But there are no known portraits made while he was alive, or even contemporary descriptions of his physical appearance. How then does an artist portray him? What are images of Christ for?

Jesus in ArtJesus in Art

You are now going to see different pictures of Jesus that have been painted by different artists from different countries and in different centuries.

On your work sheet you need to fill in some answers to the onscreen questions. Feel free to make any other points that you would like to raise during the feedback session at the end

Rasta JesusRasta Jesus

What do you think of this image?

Is this how you see Jesus?

Where do you think the artist is from?

What is the artist trying to say?

Bar Code JesusBar Code Jesus

What is your opinion about this image?

What is the author trying to say

Do you like this image?

Do you think it looks like Jesus

Catacombs JesusCatacombs Jesus

What do you think about this image?

How old do you think it is?

Who painted it?

What is your opinion about the image?

Laughing JesusLaughing Jesus

Do you think this image looks like Jesus?

What do you think the artist was trying to say about Jesus?

Forensic JesusForensic Jesus

• Is this a good picture of Jesus?

• What is the artist trying to say?

• What is the purpose of this image?

Jesus the RevolutionaryJesus the Revolutionary

What is your opinion about this picture?

What message is the artist trying to give?

For what purpose do you think this image was drawn

What is your opinion of this image?

What do you think the artist is trying to say about Jesus?

Roman Catholic Jesus

Crucified Jesus

What is your opinion about this image?

Who do you think painted this picture?

What was the artist trying to show?

Polish Jesus

Do you think this picture looks like Jesus?

Give reasons for your answer

Why do you think the artist has drawn him this way?

Jesus in death

Is this a good picture of Jesus?

Give reasons for your answer.

Where do you think this picture is from?

What was the artist trying to say?

Rasta JesusRasta Jesus

Jesus is so often shown as a white person that it comes as a shock when he is shown with black skin. This image is from the Caribbean and shows us Jesus as he relates to the issues of racism and oppression in the world today.

Bar Code JesusBar Code Jesus

Based on the face of Jesus from the Shroud of Turin, this picture is made up of thousands of individual bar codes. The artist who created it did so not to promote worship but to ask questions about Jesus, faith and technology

Catacombs JesusCatacombs Jesus

Painted in one of the ancient underground catacombs of Rome, this image of Jesus is one of the oldest on record, dating from around the year AD375. The early Christians were reluctant to make pictures of Christ, so this early painting is very rare.

Laughing JesusLaughing Jesus

Reports are often published in newspapers of people who believe that statues of Jesus have been weeping real tears. But very rarely – if ever – do we hear of laughter being heard from those statues. Why is it that Jesus is always thought to be so sad? This unexpected image shows Jesus roaring with laughter. Maybe he's laughing at one of his own parables...

Forensic JesusForensic Jesus

This unfamiliar portrait of Jesus was made specially for a BBC programme broadcast during Easter 2001, called Son of God.The head of Jesus was created by a production team which took into consideration medical, archaeological, geographical and artistic evidence from the time of Jesus. But this is not the face of Jesus because they were not working with a skull!

Jesus the RevolutionaryJesus the Revolutionary

This picture of Jesus as a revolutionary, imitating the style of the famous poster of 1960s fighter Che Guevara, was produced as an advertising poster encouraging people to go to church during Easter 1999.

Che GuevaraChe Guevara

This is a modern icon of the Roman Catholic Church. The symbol in the centre is the Sacred heart, which demonstrates the great compassion of Jesus for all people of the earth

Roman Catholic Jesus

A painting by Salvadore Dali. Drawn to illustrate the loneliness of Jesus onThe cross.

Crucified Jesus

Polish Jesus

This image was drawn for the Jesus 2000 exhibition. Artists from all over the world were invited to draw Jesus as they see him. Jesus is here shown as a Polish man, making him more acceptable to the people of Poland

Jesus in death

This is part of a much larger work by Michael Angelo – it is to be found in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Notice the people around him are dressed in renaissance Italian clothes – the people of Michael Angelo’s day.

Why are there so many different artistic impressionsof Jesus?

Discuss

There are no records anywhere in the New Testament that describe what Jesus looked like, only the sort of person he was. Artists throughout the centuries have chosen their favourite characteristic of Jesus and painted him in that way.

Can we work out what Jesus Can we work out what Jesus looked like?looked like?

Jesus

Was a Jew

Dark Hair

Dark skin

Brown eyes

He was a Carpenter

Probably quite strong

He was a wandering preacher

Scruffy, Archaeological evidence suggests he would have been about 5’6”, and weigh about 9 – 10 stone

Can we ever really know what Can we ever really know what Jesus Looked like?Jesus Looked like?

Some Christians believe that a cloth kept in a Cathedral in Turin bears the genuine face of Christ

Could this be the face of Christ?