As a Christian and an artist I was always curious what Jesus might have looked like. My assumption was always that he looked like the way he has always been portrayed in films.

A typical middle eastern man of the times. However once I started to look for actual historical evidence and descriptions of Jesus I found my assumptions were incorrect. First of all there is no description of what Jesus looked like during his life anywhere in the bible. There are however a few first-hand historical accounts by people who weren’t his followers or believers but that simply described an interesting man they encountered.

~ Pontius Pilate letter to Roman Emperor Tiberius ~ 
“At first I was apprehensive that this man’s design was to stir up the people against the Romans, but my fears were soon dispelled. Yeshua of Nazareth spoke rather as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews. One day in passing by the place of Siloe, where there was a great concourse of people, I observed in the midst of the group a young man who was leaning against a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told it was Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus). This I could easily have suspected, so great was the difference between him and those listening to him. His golden-colored hair and beard gave to his appearance a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about thirty years of age. Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance. What a contrast between him and his hearers, with their black beards and tawny complexions.”

~ Publius’ Epistle to the Senate of Rome ~ 
“There has appeared in our times, and there still lives, a man of great virtue, called Jesus. The people call him prophet of truth; his disciples, the son of God. He is said to be able to raise the dead, and heal infirmities. He is a man of medium size; he has a venerable aspect, and his beholders can both fear and love him. His hair is of the color of the ripe hazel-nut, straight down to the ears, but below the ears wavy and curled, flowing over his shoulders. It is parted in two on the top of the head, after the pattern of the Nazarenes. His brow is smooth and very cheerful and a face without wrinkles or spots, embellished by a slightly reddish complexion. His nose and mouth are faultless. His beard is abundant, of the color of his hair, not long, but divided at the chin. His appearance is simple and mature, his eyes are blue-gray and bright. He isn’t known to laugh, but often to weep. His stature is straight, his hands and arms beautiful to behold. His conversation is grave, infrequent, and modest. He is the most beautiful among the children of men.”

~ Lentulus’ Letter to the Emperor Tiberius ~ 
“Jesus (Yeshua of Nazareth) has a noble and lively face, with fair and slightly wavy hair; dark and strongly curving eyebrows, intense penetrating blue eyes and an expression of wondrous grace. His nose is rather long. His beard is almost blonde, although not very long. His hair however has never seen a pair of scissors. His neck is slightly inclined, so that he never appears to be bitter or arrogant. His lightly tanned face is the color of ripe corn and well proportioned. It gives the impression of gravity and wisdom, sweetness and good, and is completely lacking in any sign of anger.”

I got these quotes from The Archko Volume which contains a lot of interesting information from around the times of Jesus plus the descriptions of how he looked like in Chapter 8, page 129. Also more descriptions can be found inside the Publius Lentulus’ report to the Senate of Rome concerning Jesus Christ which you can read HERE.

Also in recreating Jesus’ face I used the shroud of Turin as a guide for the overall proportions. Obviously I took into account the fact that the man in the shroud had been brutally beaten, his nose was broken and his face swollen.

The Shroud of Turin is the most scientifically tested historical artifact. It contains an image of a man that matches all the descriptions of what happened to Jesus up to his death on the cross.

Latest studies show that the 1988 carbon dating was false and according to modern X-Ray testing, the linen cloth fibers are actually from the first century. Also recent DNA analysis traced the particles like pollen grains back to the precise geographic location of Israel. Lastly the image on the shroud is not painted, like most people assume but a result of huge amounts of radioactive light bursts. Attempts have been made recently to try to reproduce a similar image using X-Rays and electromagnetic radiation onto a woven cloth and it was concluded that the amount of energy needed to create that image surpasses our current abilities.

For my portrait of Jesus I used several different photo elements of facial features that match the descriptions of Jesus. Inside Affinity Photo 2 I pasted them all on top of the shroud image and then I painted over all it to end up with my final image. Also to further bring the portrait to life I used various animation and AI voice generation tools to make Jesus talk. Hope you enjoy my results.

I did the digital painting in Affinity Photo 2. I did the voices in Artlist. To animate the painting I used Runway Act One AI tool.

More info about the Shroud of Turin: