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Pictures of Jesus

I recently went online to look for some pictures of Jesus for a project that needed an illustration. Wow! Who knew what a wealth of pictures were available! As I was looking through them for the particular picture of Jesus I had in my mind, I began to notice different things.

There were all different kinds of styles from very realistic portraits to highly stylized and somewhat abstract representations of the concept of Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. There were many pictures that most people are familiar with because we’ve seen them over and over in churches and Bibles and even as part of people’s home decor. Most of these were in a more realistic style, as were many that depicted scenes from well-known Scriptures, such as Jesus and the disciples in the boat in the midst of the storm on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus’ death on the cross. Many artists over the centuries have put on canvas and paper their interpretation of those events. It was like looking at a pictorial history of religious thought that spans two thousand years. It was highly interesting to me.

There were pictures of Jesus as a baby, a child, and as an adult. These were all wonderful pictures meant to inspire the viewer to think on higher things, but I must admit my interest lies more in the stylized and somewhat abstract pictures as that is more my own style of art. I prefer pictures that are bold in contrast and color, yet tell a story or make a point. High impact images that stir the senses and grab the emotions of the viewer while causing them to ponder, however briefly, some particular point are the pictures that get my attention. Beautiful as many of those pictures of Jesus are, my eye tended to skip over the majority of them to the bolder, more unusual pictures. That is a matter of personal preference.

Many people like the more realistic pictures of Jesus. These pictures tend to be more familiar, more serene. They don’t jar the senses or the emotions, even when the subject matter might suggest that they would. That was one of those other overall differences I noticed in the pictures of Jesus. Most of the earlier works emphasize the kind and gentle nature of Christ, even in the midst of stormy seas. It seems a bit lopsided to me.

The Bible says Jesus is meek, humble and lowly, and gentle as a lamb, yet, it also portrays Him as a lion and the King of kings. No one could have the nature of a lion and be a ‘King of kings’ and be weak, fearful, or indecisive. It would seem that the whole genre of religious art seems to be lacking, presenting at best a one-sided, innocuous view of Jesus, and at worst presenting a false image of who the Bible says Jesus truly is. So then maybe in recognizing these things, we are given much food for thought and the artists of all those works accomplished more than they originally intended. That is the dream of every artist I know.