What did Jesus Really Look Like? (and why does it matter?)

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All my life I have known that I wanted to be an artist. I have had many jobs in the art industry using my talents, but I always felt that I was not truly living up to my potential. It wasn't until I began painting pictures of Jesus Christ that I could see my talents really making a difference in the world, one life at a time. I realize that seeing a picture will not usually cause some great life changing miracle, but it can help one feel the spirit. Art can bring you peace and remind you of our Savior. A mere picture of Jesus Christ can remind you of His life and everything that He has done for us. Although we do not worship the image, it can still help us to visualize the real man. It can help us to better see Him as a real person, who really lived on this earth, and who still exists as our Savior today. If my artwork can help somebody understand that Jesus Christ is real and is waiting for us to follow His teachings, then I am blessed to be able to share my talents with others. 

I believe that using social media is a great way to share my artwork and hopefully by doing so, can help spread the Gospel also. Because I am able to reach a greater audience this way, my artwork is sometimes seen by people of many different cultures and religious beliefs. I often receive feedback from fans and critics alike. Some share with me words of thanks and encouragement, and some criticize. I often get sincere questions, "Why did you paint Jesus to look like that?" or "Could you tell me about your inspiration to paint this picture?" At other times I read matter-of-fact statements. "Jesus wasn't European." "Jesus had olive colored skin and dark hair, like other Jews of His time." "That's not Jesus". Reading these statements has caused me to ponder more about what He really did look like, and why that matters.

"Head of Christ" by Warner Sallman
was displayed in my own home as a child.

I have my own ideas of what Christ really looks like, as I'm sure we all probably do. There has been thousands of different interpretations of Christ through the ages, most of them influenced one way or another by the artist's own culture. I do recognize this. I have been raised with pictures of Christ in my own home, each one looking a little bit different, but each showing basically the same Man. I am amazed at the quality of work of several contemporary artists who chose to paint portraits of Jesus Christ and I have been influenced by many.

I believe that Jesus Christ was and is a real man. He really did walk the shores of Galilee preaching His Gospel to all that would hear Him. Because of this fact, He really does have a physical body. This means He has a hair style, skin color, and eye color. As an artist I try to portray those facts the best that I know how.  I have done quite a bit of research to help me do that more accurately .

There are no physical descriptions of Jesus in the Bible. The closest thing that can be found is in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53. 

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” 

I have heard some to say that this means that He is ugly. I do not agree with that interpretation of this scripture. That just doesn't make sense to me, it does't "feel" right. I believe that Isaiah was simply saying that He would look like an ordinary man; that He would not “appear” as a God. 

Although there are no physical descriptions of Jesus in the New Testament, and the only physical descriptions that I have been able to find from modern prophets focus only on His countenance (brightness and glory), there are surprisingly many descriptions of Jesus by his contemporaries. Many historians and political leaders from His day have made notes about the way He looked. I do understand that these descriptions are not “gospel”, in fact they may not be credible at all, but I do find it interesting the many similarities that stand out in these ancient documents. For example, all seem to mention that His hair was lighter in color, one says “chestnut”, another “auburn”, and one describes him as looking like His mother, except His hair is more “Golden” and his face not as round and soft. (The only description that I have read of Mary is that she was a virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.) His hair has been described as “after the manner of the Nazarenes” being parted in the middle, straight to his ears then curls and waves to his shoulders. I’ve read His eyes being described as both “bright blue” and “grey and clear”. The one thing in common between all of these ancient descriptions, is that they all describe Him with lighter hair and eyes. How can this make sense? Don't Jews have dark hair and skin...? Well, actually no, they don't. Today about 20% of all jews have blond hair, and most are considered to be "caucasian'.  2000 years ago, Israel was also a melting pot of different ancestries. The people of Galilee were often separated and looked down upon by people of Jerusalem. They sounded and probably even looked different that other Jews. This is partly due to the fact that the region had been conquered and settled by foreigners in the past. These settlers had converted over to Judaism. 2000 years ago, many people from Galilee were known to have blue eyes, and either blond or red hair. In the past I remember reading that people from the Galilee area in the time of Christ probably had blond or red hair, but I did not know where that info came from.  In my more recent research, I found information that the only ancient jewish male hair ever found was "reddish" in color. This hair was found in an archeological dig of a 1st century tomb in Jerusalem. This somewhat differs from the perception of ancient middle eastern jews perpetuated by an image created by "scientists" for a popular magazine that portrays him with dead eyes and a confused look on his face. These scientists were attempting to show you what Jesus would have looked like based on a single skull found in the Galilean region. This would be similar to a scientist 2000 years from now finding a skull from present day New York City, creating an artist's rendering based on that skull, and then insisting that is what Jerry Seinfeld looks like.  It can not be done accurately. I don't mind at all if my opinion is different than that article. 

I once read an interesting account written by Alexander Neibaur an early jewish convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He wrote in his journal about a meeting he had with Joseph Smith, who described the First Vision. He said that Joseph described a fire from heaven coming towards him, and in that fire he saw a personage of light complexion and blue eyes. He was wearing white. After a while another person came to the side of the first. I do believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ that day. 

I have also spoken with many people who have claimed to have seen Him themselves, either in visions or dreams. Although these accounts are very personal, so I choose not to share them here, I find it interesting that so many people who have had these experiences will approach me to ask about my inspiration for His appearance. Although I don't really have much to share with them... they share with me, and often times I can feel the Spirit strongly when they recount their experiences. Almost ALL of these people I have spoken with comment about His blazing blue eyes. Although I always paint Him with blue eyes, I try not to make them stand out too much, because that isn't what I want my pictures to be about. I'm not trying to point out His physical attributes, I'm just trying to help others believe in Him. 

All of the research that I have done has influenced my own perceptions somewhat, but not entirely. I personally don't put too much stock in some of the "ancient documents".  It would be cool if these documents were in fact real, and they just may be, I don't know. Although I may not think we can count on them as verified truth, I do tend to picture Him with the physical traits mentioned therein, and the modern stories that I hear tend to back them up. Most of my own paintings do show Him with somewhat lighter colored hair (not black), grey blue eyes, and just a touch of a forked beard. I am open to the fact however, that He may look different than I imagine Him. He may have shorter hair, He may have different color eyes, It really doesn't matter. The way our culture and ourselves imagine Him to look is really just a symbol of the true Man. It really doesn't matter what He looks like.  If it was really important to us what Jesus looked like, then I’m sure that His disciples would have given an accurate description, but the fact is they didn’t, and we can’t count on the descriptions that we do have as absolutely true. What IS important is how our personal vision of His appearance influences what we believe about His divine nature.

I am often told, sometimes with much hostility, “Jesus didn’t look like that! He was a Jew, He should have black hair, brown eyes and dark skin." My response is always the same:

“Are you telling me that Joseph was His real father? Are you telling me that He is really just a mere mortal, the offspring of two jewish parents 2000 years ago, that He is not really the Only Begotten of the Father?”

If you are telling me that Jesus should have black hair and dark skin, because he was born in a certain part of the world where (some of) the people have darker hair and skin, then you are insinuating that he inherited his physical characteristics from both an earthly, mortal mother AND an earthly, mortal father, and I must declare that you are wrong. Jesus Christ was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.  I believe that God is His Father, and because of that fact it stands to reason that He might not look like other Jews of His time and region. Now if you believe that God the Father really does have black hair and dark skin, then I have no problem in your belief, and we simply have a difference in opinion, one that is really not essential for our salvation. If my depiction of our Savior offends you, then I'm sorry.  I'm not pushing any agenda other than the fact that HE IS REAL! We can disagree with how he looks and that is OK. I've never tried to paint Him non-jewish looking, I just tried to paint Him, and this is how He turned out. And you know what? I like it.

"Light of the World" by Brent Borup

I try to paint pictures that will inspire and uplift. I am sure that my version of Christ does not look just like Him, after all, I use a model for my paintings, he is a good guy that lives down the street from me.  I have not seen Jesus Christ in person or in visions or dreams. What I do know is that He was and is a real person. He is calm and serene and full of peace. This is what I try to paint. Yes, I try to paint Him to look how I believe he really looked, but more importantly, I try to paint with inspiration, I try to paint through the Spirit, and I hope that through my paintings, the Spirit of Christ can be felt and shared with others.

To learn further what I believe to be the true nature of Jesus Christ, please click HERE

To see more paintings of Jesus Christ by Brent Borup, visit his website.

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