X-ray “slices” of the three skulls from first century Jewish men were created with computerized tomography to reveal minute data. Using methods commonly employed by police to solve crimes, Neave used modern-day forensic techniques on ancient skulls from around Jerusalem, the area where Jesus was said to have lived and preached. Richard Neave, a medical artist retired from The University of Manchester in England had experience reconstructing historical faces, including Philip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great, and King Midas of Phrygia. The reconstruction was reportedly a great challenge, as PopularMechanics writes, “nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus described, nor have any drawings of him ever been uncovered.” Forensic Investigations Like many religious figures, the representation of the ethnicity of Jesus has been influenced by cultural settings. The Mysteries of the Three Kings: Who Were They and Where Did They Come From?.The Shroud of Turin: Controversial Cloth Defies Explanation as Study Shows it Has DNA From Around the World.Long, flowing hair, with a beard and robes typifies the figure.ĭetail Jesus at the Last Supper, by Tiepolo ( Public Domain )Ĭomedian Eddie Izzard jokes that the popular modern image of Jesus is that of a “white man from Oxford,” England, but researchers have produced a reconstruction of what they believe Jesus, as a real historical man, may have looked like based on the time period and location of the story of Jesus from ancient texts and forensic reconstruction. Jesus has been represented traditionally in art as having pale skin, a narrow face, medium-brown (or even blonde) hair, with kind or sad eyes in any color. The physical appearance of Jesus has varied across locations, ages, and cultural settings, with a western likeness being very common in modern times. And it had very different look to the one we are accustomed to. Recently, a British scientist teamed up with Israeli archaeologists in an attempt to forensically recreate a truer face of the historical man who is believed to be the son of God in Christianity.
Jesus’s face as created by artificial intelligence Artbreeder software and Bas Unterwijk.(Image: Bas Unterwijk )Īlthough this portrayal can only be as faithful to the truth as the portrayals from which it was drawn, others have tried to produce the face of Jesus using scientific means. But this is only as true to life as were the existing images, of which none are photographs, and so the impressions are entirely the imagination and hand of the artist. So although Uterwijk’s image may look realistic, there is no reason to believe it really is the face of Jesus Christ. Indeed, Uterwijk admits on his Twitter page, “I don't really believe it has any archaeologic-historical value regarding to the actual life of Jesus.” Traditionally portrayed in western art as a be-robed, light-skinned Caucasian man with a tidy beard and flowing, light-brown hair, scientific analysis has changed perceptions of what Jesus may have really looked like-and it’s not the familiar face from Sunday school teachings.īased on the multitude of images of Jesus that exist in the world, we are coaxed into an image of Jesus that is similar to one recently produced by photographer Bas Uterwijk using AI Artbreeder software which produces ‘photo-realistic’ images based on existing paintings and portrayals of historic figures. For being one of the most widely recognized men in the last 2,000 years, the true appearance of Jesus of Nazareth remains a mystery.