How accurate is our picture of Jesus' appeareance?

[maryj]

St. Faustina was instructed by our Lord to paint a picture. The original Divine Mercy picture can be compared here with the shroud of turin. Start at “our mission” and then click on “the sacred images” Look upon the face of Christ.
lifeandmercy.com/

 

[joshua_b]

Jesus was a Nazarene Jewish man. He would have looked very similar to every other Nazarene Jew of His time. Scripture tells us there was nothing “distinct” about His appearance in the account of His betrayal. (If Jesus had any strikingly distinguishing charactaristics, the Romans wouldn’t have needed anyone to point Him out). To get an idea of what He looked like, I think the safest way to go would be to find archaeological references to what all of the other Nazarene Jewish males looked like.

 

[evelynicholson]

I hope anyone interested in this subject will log on to the UK Tv Station Channel 4.com. There was an excellent programme on the Holy Shroud on Sunday in which it was indeed claimed that it is now believed to be dated to the 1st century AD (before 75AD) based on a style of needlework comparable to a cloth found in Masada in that century, and a Hungarian drawing of a shroud brought from Jerusalem in an Astoria silver arc… The programme declared the carbon dating completely unsafe and said the microbacteria in it dated it to well before the mediaeval period. A forensic scientist did an examination and detailed the wounds of the man and this made for grim viewing as to the utter agony of the man in the shroud.The bloodgroup was extremely rare only 3% of the population in the world had it. All the examinations confirmed the shroud was soaked in blood and not a picture or photograph. You can watch old channel 4 programmes over the internet. I think Jesus appearance is irrelevent, though basically Jewish looking ie dark, I think he must have been really kind and gentle looking and charismatically powerful to have had such an influence on so many people.Glory and praise to him forever.

 

[jimmy85]

In this Image the Nasa made a 3D image of theh actual radiation of the shroud. There is more radiation on places where the shourd was more in contact with the skin rather than in the palces that has less contact.

they made a 3d image of the radiation , n they got the shape of a human being that fits entirely with the description of Jesus , and criminologists have declared it.

There is no painting nor image that can be able to make a 3D radation image of a human being.
I think the skeptic have no argument to debunk it now.

they used to claim that the carbon examns were rigth . well its wrogn and they were unreliable, because of the microbacteria that evelyn mentioned. that didnt allowed them to get the correct dating,
but to ignore this obvious fact about the radiation withint it is imposbile.

No painting can have a 3D iamge of radiation with the shape of a human being.

 

[Bobby_Jim]

I’ve heard said that the long hair & beard are in keeping with being a Nazarite, which I don’t know if it is the same as being a Nazarean (from Nazareth).

As for Nazarite, a familiar point of reference would be Samson - remember the guy in the Old Testament with the long hair, which Delilah cut off, causing him to go weak? Well he was a Nazarite, which was some sort of vowed ascetic life. But I recall that it also involving not tasting strong drink, and we know that Our Lord was accused of being a drunkard, so I don’t know if he was a Nazarite in the same way.

 

[MH84]

I think the hair and beard are historically accurate…it’s the light brown/reddish hair and blue eyes that probably aren’t correct.

I thought I saw on discovery.com where someone did a “real” representation of what a typical jew from Christ’s time would look like…but I can’t find it now.

I saw that on a documentary a while ago. I actually imagined St Peter to look similar to the representation. The reality is it doesn’t matter. The Son of God is perfect whatevate features look like. Btw it was a typical computer generated image of what an average Jewish person would have looked like at the time I think. However, as we know Jesus was not an average Jewish person.

An interesting point though in the documentary about the hair of Jesus, was that in a letter from Saint Paul to the Corinthians it states that it is not right for a man to have long hair (I found that in KJB online and RSV online). But I find in the Douay Rheims online it says “nourish” his hair. The argument apparently by the documentary is that Paul at the time knew the disciples of Jesus, who obviously saw Jesus. So why would he write that it is not appropriate for a man to have long hair.

Also I noticed that in Isaiah 53:2 it says
And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: (taken from drbo.org).
(I may have taken this verse out of context. I’m definately not a Bible scholar . Please correct me if I’m wrong)

Anyway,"The earliest element of the Devotion to the Divine Mercy revealed to St. Faustina was the Image. On February 22nd, 1931 Jesus appeared to her with rays radiating from His heart and said,

Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and throughout the world. (Diary 47)" (taken from ewtn.com). And we have all seen the profound image of Jesus.

 

[jrnami]

I was discussing this with my wife yesterday. Jesus in all our representations has a beard and long hair. But do we know that even this this was true of Jews in Jesus’ time? Are we possibly laboring under misconceptions about this?

No, this was the norm for Jews at that time.

 

[Aramis]

Compare the shroud to the early icons, and you find a striking similarity of face, but the hair tends to be stylized differently.

 

[Publisher]

Isaiah says “he has no form or comeliness…” He was a first century Jew…probably 5’4"-5’8"…dark hair, beard, medium to long hair, 130-150lbs. Nothing special to distinguish him, a laborer of the lower class.

 

[evelynicholson]

I’ve heard said that the long hair & beard are in keeping with being a Nazarite, which I don’t know if it is the same as being a Nazarean (from Nazareth).

As for Nazarite, a familiar point of reference would be Samson - remember the guy in the Old Testament with the long hair, which Delilah cut off, causing him to go weak? Well he was a Nazarite, which was some sort of vowed ascetic life. But I recall that it also involving not tasting strong drink, and we know that Our Lord was accused of being a drunkard, so I don’t know if he was a Nazarite in the same way.

Sorry don’t know about Nazarites.