How do we know what Jesus looked like?

Stew54

I remember a thread about this in the forums a while back. Obviously nobody actually does know what Jesus looked like, but here's a scientific effort at a reconstruction. http://archives.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/12/25/face.jesus/ Oct 22 04, 12:07 PM

picqero

The image on that link looks more like a 'neanderthal' than a typical Middle East male which of course Jesus was. I've never seen any likenesses of him with blond-ish hair, though there are some with brown hair. In fact no-one knows what he looked like as his portrait was never painted or recorded. You can only surmise his looks from what would be typical of that area at that time - i.e. dark-ish complexion, black hair, and probably had a beard. European Mediaeval paintings usually showed Biblical and mythological persons clad in Mediaeval dress rather than in contemporary dress. Oct 22 04, 1:24 PM

lothruin

There was, in fact, a heated debate on this topic in the old CI forums, of which I was a participant. I'm willing to give that the Jewish populations of the middle-east at the time of Christ's life according to scripture probably included limited expression of the recessive genes for light hair, skin and eyes, but they were still recessive genes, so the likelyhood lies with the darker image of Jesus. I've often laughted to myself at the queer, sometimes ludicrous depictions of Jesus in certain merchandise. The pointy-chinned, attractive, dark-haired but pale-skinned man often seen in the velvet paintings seems a perfectly nice thing to say prayers too, regardless of accuracy. But walking down the aisles at Christmas, Jesus seems all too often to be a blonde-headed, blue-eyed little thing. See the little blond boys here: http://www.inhisname.com/xmasimages/Fontanini/71503_HolyFamily.jpg and here: http://www.gocollect.com/themes/nativity/product.asp?nid=79628&id=357 Of course, I almost choked on my laughter when I walked past the native American nativity figures, complete with a teepee instead of a manger and a little baby jesus papoose. Forensic anthropology: Fascinating! Oct 22 04, 9:13 PM

mibmob

The image of Christ in the Middle Ages is believed to have been taken from what is known as the Sudarium, or face cloth, traditionally associated with Veronica who is supposed to have wiped Christ's face on his way to Calvary. This and the Turin Shroud - although both controversial - definitely influenced Eastern church icon painting and mediaeval art. Oct 23 04, 8:25 AM

Arpeggionist

He probably would have had a beard - religious Jews normally refrained from shaving at all until the invention of the electric shaver. The size, color and thickness of this beard is a matter of speculation. He didn't live long enough to get too gray. Few biblical characters are given any physical attributions in the text - most notable among those are some of the prophets (Samuel's robe, Elisha's baldness) and women (Rebeccah, Rachel and Esther were all said to be beautiful women, but we know little about what was considered an attribute of beauty in those days). Oct 23 04, 10:12 AM

wwefan18

Nobody knows exactly what Jesus looks like. Looks don't really matter anyway cause all that matters is that he loves us and that we have to have faith in him. Jun 02 07, 4:55 PM

Baloo55th

It's always puzzled me the way Christians blithely tell us non-Christians to have faith in someone that we don't accept because we don't have faith in him. Shades of Catch 22 to me there. Jun 03 07, 7:49 AM