PORTRAITS OF CHRIST - With sixteen colour plates - and fourteen black and white illustrations

Sep 29, 2026

PORTRAITS OF CHRIST explores how the physical image of Jesus developed across seventeen centuries, arguing that the widely accepted “authentic” Christ face is largely an achievement of human imagination. It traces early Christian reluctance to describe Christ’s appearance, later theological speculation, and eventually the role of artists who re-created Christ’s form from idealized models drawn from late pagan and imperial imagery, especially after Christianity gained official status.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages56

Reading Time1 h 26 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The evolution of Christ’s physical appearance

Early references in Christian writings

Artists’ re-creation and idealized models

Imperial recognition and new symbolism

PORTRAITS OF CHRIST with sixteen colour plates m 90e9、 # PORTRAITS OF CHRIST With sixteen colour plates and fourteenblack and white illustrationsand a text by ERNST KITZINGER &ELIZABETH SENIOR The KING PENGUIN Books The King Penguin Books:edited by Elizabeth Senior # THIS VOLU ME PUBLISHED 1940 British Museum Fig.1.Bust of Christ on a glass vessel.4th century PORTRAITS OF CHRIST WE all have a very distinct idea of Christ's physicalappearance,and it is natural to suppose that there isan authentic portrait from which our knowledge isderived and on which the representations of Christ inart are based.Yet when we go back in history we findthat man's idea of the Saviour's person has changed verymuch through the ages.And when we enquire whetherthere is any representation or description that datesfrom the time of Christ himself and can therefore claimto be authentic we find that there is none,and that eventhe most venerable of His portraits were produced bylater generations. The Christ face as we know it is therefore entirely an achievement of the human imagination.It is preciselythis fact which makes it such an interesting subject forstudy.For in its varying shapes it reflects the changeswhich man's conception of the Saviour has undergoneduring a period of seventeen centuries. It is certainly very strange that the outcome of thisdevelopment should be a portrait which is commonlylooked upon as authentic and"real."One may wellwonder how an image purely imaginary in origin shouldin course of time have acquired all the rights andhonours of an authentic record.The history of theChrist figure in art provides an answer to this question. There was a time when Christians were not interestedin the physiognomy of Christ.The Gospels do not con-tain any description of His physical appearance.It is,indeed,likely that it was not until three or four genera-tions after Christ that people began to wonder what Hemay have looked like,at a period when personalcontact with Him and His contemporaries had beenlost.Even then,however,His appearance became asubject of religious speculation rather than real investiga-tion.Thus it is in the writings of the philosophers andFathers of the Church that we find the earliest referencesto Christ's bodily shape.Those who were anxious topropagate in the face of a world used to Greek views andGreek taste a new conception of divinity not dependenton physical beauty but on moral values,describedChrist with words like"undistinguished”and"in-glorious.”Almost all the earliest descriptions run onthese lines.From the third century,however,whenpagan ideas began to influence Christian thought,references to Christ's beauty are found with increasingfrequency."Had He not had something heavenly alsoin His face and in His eyes,the apostles never would havefollowed Him at once,nor would those who had come toarrest Him have fallen to the ground,"says Jerome.Both views are clearly based on theological argumentsand not on authentic records.It is not until much later, in the seventh and eighth centuries,that we find inChristian literature what purports to be a faithful anddetailed description of Christ prompted not by dogmaticzeal,but by the pious writer's wish for correctness.Thesedescriptions,of course,always claim to be authentic,but,as far as we know,with very little justice. Quite independent of dogmatic speculation andliterary tradition,painters and sculptors began,almosttwo hundred years after Christ's death,to re-evoke Hisshape out of their own imagination.Christianity hadby that time acquired a vast following in the Greek andRoman world,and it was no longer possible to maintainthe austere spirituality of the early days.The paganconvert,accustomed to seeing the object of his venerationin marble statues and brightly-coloured pictures,wantedto see the Saviour with his own eyes and to witness Hismiraculous deeds.The artists called upon to satisfythis need did not begin by searching for old recordsfro

FAQs

Why does the book claim the familiar Christ face is not a direct authentic portrait?

It argues that the most venerable portraits were produced by later generations and that the received appearance reflects shifting conceptions rather than records from the time of Christ.

What do early Christian sources lack according to the text?

The Gospels are said not to contain descriptions of Christ’s physical appearance, and the earliest references are found in philosophers and Church Fathers rather than authentic historical accounts.

How did artistic models influence early Christian depictions of Christ?

Painters and sculptors, rather than reconstructing from old records, created convincing images by drawing on established types linked to heroes and divine beings, including models from late pagan culture.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Alexandar