this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2025
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[–] [email protected] 80 points 22 hours ago (5 children)

99% invisible just released a podcast on this subject ☞ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/615-your-own-personal-jesus/

The most popular image of Jesus Christ in the world—a white man with blue eyes, wavy brown hair, and a soft, peaceful gaze—comes from Head of Christ, a 1940 painting by Chicago artist Warner Sallman. It’s been reproduced over a billion times, shaping how millions imagine Jesus.

But its dominance also cemented a white Jesus in the cultural imagination. Scholars point out that the historical Jesus, a Middle Eastern Jew, likely had darker skin. Yet Head of Christ reinforced whiteness as central to Christian identity in America. As historian David Morgan puts it, “It gave white Americans a Jesus that was theirs.”

[–] [email protected] 1 points 22 minutes ago

"Racists prefer to think of themselves as special."

[–] JcbAzPx 13 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

White Jesus predates the '40s by quite a long way. European Christians have been depicting him that way for centuries. I'm pretty sure Americans had a white Jesus before then as well.

Sadly, it's hard to find accurate depictions of Jesus in the western world.

[–] Num10ck 1 points 4 hours ago

i read that it was Da Vinci era likely due to instruction from the popes. some say Da Vinci's depictions of Jesus were self portraits.

[–] Landless2029 13 points 19 hours ago

"Skin of bronze and hair of Sheep's wool"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Ah fuck I need to go listen to more Depeche Mode

[–] [email protected] 3 points 16 hours ago

Pick up the receiver, I'll make you a believer.

[–] littletoolshed 11 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

This was a great episode and I’m happy to see you posted it, since I was also like, “I just learned about this!!”

[–] [email protected] 19 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

i remember this portrait from some time ago

real face of jesus

it sounded like a reasonable reconstruction: https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a41336100/real-jesus-face/