Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Friday, December 25th, 2020

The Long History of How Jesus Came to Resemble a White European

Author:     Roxanne Cooper
Source:     The Conversation
Publication Date:     December 23, 2020
 Link: The Long History of How Jesus Came to Resemble a White European
Stephan:   Christmas is an ancient holiday far predating Christianity, but it is also a spiritual holiday in the modern sense. Here is a bit of history that speaks to this day in a way that might not at first be obvious. Since Jesus was the son of a Jewish carpenter, that is an ordinary working-class person of the time he almost certainly looked something like a Syrian or Palestinian today with a swarthy Caucasian skin tone, black hair, and dark eyes. The fact that most Christians visualize him as a tall light-skinned, light brown-haired European man, Warner Sallman's image, should tell us something about racism in our dominant religion. Maybe one of the things we should think about this Christmas is how we, both individually and collectively, can give American society the gift of racial neutrality and equality. 
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor 
Greek, there is neither slave nor free, 
there is no male and female, for you 
are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 Here there is not Greek 
and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, 
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but 
Christ is all, and in all.

The portrayal of Jesus as a white, European man has come under renewed scrutiny during this period of introspection over the legacy of racism in society.

As protesters called for the removal of Confederate statues in the U.S., activist Shaun King went further, suggesting that murals and artwork depicting “white Jesus” should “come down.”

His concerns about the depiction of Christ and how it is used to uphold notions of white supremacy are not isolated. Prominent scholars and the archbishop of Canterbury have called to reconsider Jesus’ portrayal as a white man.

As a European Renaissance art historian, I study the evolving image of Jesus Christ from A.D. 1350 to 1600. Some of the best-known depictions of Christ, from Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” to Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel, were produced during this period.

But the all-time most-reproduced image of Jesus comes from another period. It is Warner Sallman’s light-eyed, light-haired “Head of Christ” from 1940. Sallman, a former commercial artist who created art for advertising campaigns, successfully marketed this picture worldwide.

Sallman’s ‘Head of Christ’

Through Sallman’s partnerships with two Christian publishing companies, one Protestant and one Catholic, the Head of Christ came to be included on everything from prayer cards […]

Read the Full Article

2 Comments

  1. Kenneth Heck on Friday, December 25, 2020 at 5:10 am

    Both parents of Jesus were descendants of David, who is described in the bible as having red hair and a ruddy complexion. If there is any consistency to heredity, then Jesus would be described today as white, not swarthy. There were no Palestinians or Syrians occupying Judea or Galilee at the time of Christ’s birth. Jews tended to marry only inside their religion. Most pictures of Jesus don’t show him with the typically curved Semitic nose, as would be expected. Artists ignorantly display the normal Greek or Germanic straight nose.

  2. Tom N on Friday, December 25, 2020 at 8:20 am

    Merry Christmas, joy and peace to all! The ancient Christian churches’ depictions of Jesus are much more akin to what Stephan describes the person of him to be (see below) and not what some modern artist of the last 100 years has drawn. As well, the eastern rites (vs the Roman church) remain much closer to the ancient founding of Christian faith, which teaches unconditional love, forgiveness, charity, humility. Man has the uncanny ability
    to take something created as good and, over time twist it into something unrecognizable. Wishing everyone a happy 2021! Tom N