Long before Latter-day Saint portrayals of Jesus Christ emerged, the earliest Christian depictions of Jesus did not show a bearded man with long hair, but rather a clean-shaven youth, a miracle worker, or the Good Shepherd draped in Greco-Roman attire. Rather than capturing photographic realism, early believers adapted classical artistic motifs to make bold theological claims about Christ’s divine role, power, and saving mission. Over time, shifting creeds, imperial politics, and medieval legends transformed these early symbolic depictions into the majestic, bearded visual tradition recognized around the world today. In this interview, Mark D. Ellison explores these artistic origins and explains how historical evidence and early artwork shape our understanding of how early Christians portrayed Jesus, drawing from the chapters by all the contributors to Picturing Christ: Daniel Becerra, Matthew Grey, Mark Ellison, and Jennifer Champoux.
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The Historical Jesus
— Historical clues and first-century archaeology indicate Jesus dressed like an ordinary Judean working man, making his physical appearance indistinguishable from those around him.
What clues do the New Testament scriptures provide to suggest that Jesus did not look significantly different from the ordinary people around him?
“Clues” is a good word for it, because the authors of the New Testament provide no overt description of Jesus’s appearance. But they do leave clues.
One of them is in the story of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus (Mark 14:43-45) — Judas had to indicate to the arresting party, by a customary kiss of greeting, which of the group was Jesus. This implies that Jesus didn’t significantly stand out from others in his physical appearance. In film and art, we often see Jesus depicted in ways that do make him stand out visually: the disciples wear drab earth tones, but Jesus is clothed in near-white and stands taller than the others, surrounded by light, and so forth. If that had been the historical reality, Judas could have simply said, “See the tall one in white who’s glowing? That’s him.” But he didn’t. “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him” (Mark 14:44 NRSV; cf Matt 26:48).
Another clue: The story of the transfiguration. Jesus was “transfigured” and “his clothes became dazzling white” (Mark 9:2-3 NRSV), implying that his clothes and appearance were not usually dazzlingly luminescent. The exception proves the rule.
Paul seems to quote a very early Christian hymn in Philippians 2:6-11 which states that Jesus “emptied himself” of his premortal “equality with God,” “taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and being found in human form” (Phil 2:6-8 NRSV). “He had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect,” writes the author of Hebrews (Heb 2:17 NRSV). In the second century, Christians began encountering criticism that Jesus couldn’t have been God’s son because he had not been a beautiful, attractive person; in response, Christians cited Isaiah 53: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isa 53:2 NRSV; for more discussion, see Joan Taylor, What Did Jesus Look Like? [Bloomsbury, 2018], 12–13, 139–54).
Jesus’s humanness and ordinary appearance were important to early Christians because becoming “like his brothers and sisters in every respect” enabled him to sympathize with them, help them, and redeem them (Heb 2:17-18; 4:15-16; cf 1 John 4:1-2, 10).
What did a typical Jewish man in first-century Judea look like, and how did people in that specific time and place dress?
The archaeological evidence that can give us an idea of what typical 1st-century Judean men looked like includes painted portraits of Eastern Mediterranean men around the time of Jesus, paintings of Jewish men in ancient synagogues (3rd-5th centuries CE), 1st century Roman coins personifying Judea as a bearded man, and human and textile remains discovered in the excavation of burials.
From these sources and literary evidence, experts can identify some commonalities and infer that Jewish men in 1st century Roman Palestine generally:
- Had an olive-brown complexion, short and curly black hair, and a short beard.
- They stood between 5’4”-5’6” and weighed between 140-150 lbs.
- They wore a sleeveless, knee-length tunic with a belt at the waist, a rectangular outer cloak draped over the shoulders, and open-toe sandals made of leather.
- They probably didn’t wear head coverings when praying.
Details in the Gospels suggest that Jesus dressed in this way, like other working men of his time. Though he is often depicted in film and art wearing long, heavy robes and head coverings, these are anachronisms that seem to come from modern artists’ imagination of the “exotic Orient.” By contrast, in Jesus’s time, long robes were worn by elites (adopting the attire of Roman aristocrats), and Jesus warned his followers against those who dressed in such pretentious, ostentatious ways:
Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.
Mark 12:38-40 NRSV.
Early Christian Artwork
— Emerging around 200 CE, the earliest Christian art depicted Jesus clean-shaven as a miracle worker or Good Shepherd, adapting Greco-Roman symbols to express theological claims.
When did the earliest identifiable Christian depictions of Jesus Christ emerge, and how did these initial portrayals represent him?
The earliest Christian art begins to appear in the material record around 200 CE in the Roman catacombs (underground cemeteries). This art includes paintings on plaster walls and ceilings, drawings etched on grave-slabs, and sculpted reliefs on sarcophagi (stone coffins). Also in the 3rd century, around the year 240 CE, Christians in Syria built a baptistery painted with biblical scenes. The depictions of Jesus in these settings portray him in New Testament stories — raising Lazarus, talking with the woman healed when she touched his cloak, multiplying the loaves and fish, healing a blind person, talking with the Samaritan woman at the well, turning water to wine, healing the paralytic, walking on water toward Peter. In these biblical scenes, Jesus is usually depicted as a young Roman man of the time, with short hair, no beard, and wearing a full-length robe.
Additionally, one of the most popular symbols of Jesus in the earliest Christian art was “the Good Shepherd,” an image portraying a young, beardless man with short hair wearing a knee-length tunic and sandals and carrying a sheep on his shoulders (see Luke 15:3-5; John 10:11-15). Technically, this was not a portrait of Jesus so much as a symbolic way of referring to him as the rescuing Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:15). It was a fitting image for decorating tombs and the baptistery, where it could express hope in the salvation Christ offers.
Technically, this was not a portrait of Jesus so much as a symbolic way of referring to him.
As Christianity expanded and gained prominence, how did early Christian artists repurpose existing Greco-Roman artistic motifs to portray Jesus?
The “Good Shepherd” image is an early example of this repurposing. In Greek and Roman art, the god Hermes had long been depicted carrying a sheep on his shoulders. Hermes was regarded as a god who carried departed souls into the afterlife. Christians who adapted the image of the sheep-bearing Hermes could express their belief that it was Christ, not Hermes, who would safely see their souls into the life beyond death.
In the fourth century, Christians began drawing upon depictions of the god Apollo, who was portrayed with long, flowing hair (though men in the Roman world did not have long hair like this). Apollo, the son of Zeus (the supreme Greek deity), was associated with the sun, prophecy, and healing, among other things. Depicting Jesus with long, flowing hair like Apollo’s might have been a way of expressing the belief that he was the Son of God, “the light of the world” (John 8: 12), and a savior and healer.
Scenes of Jesus teaching his disciples sometimes depicted him bearded and robed like a philosopher, a visual way of claiming that amid all the ancient philosophers and their teachings, Jesus was the true teacher, “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Toward the end of the fourth century, we start to see Jesus depicted quite differently, with long hair and a beard, richly robed and seated magisterially on a throne. This portrait style draws on the traditional depiction of Zeus (or Jupiter) and other senior gods of the pantheon (such as Serapis or Neptune). Over time, this image of the long-haired, bearded Jesus replaced the earlier image of the short-haired, beardless youth, and it became the predominant portrait type in the European artistic tradition. It’s the face we would more readily recognize today as “Jesus.”
In what ways was this reliance on Greco-Roman visual culture an attempt to convey what Jesus represented theologically to his followers, rather than what he actually looked like physically?
The earlier portrayals of Jesus with long, flowing hair like Apollo, Dionysus, or Orpheus drew upon the traditional way of representing “junior gods” of the pantheon. They depicted Jesus doing what “junior gods” did — interacting with mortals, healing, working wonders. But the late fourth-century depiction of a robed, enthroned Christ with long hair and a beard drew upon the traditional way of representing the “senior gods” such as Zeus. It was a visual way of emphasizing Christ’s divinity, lordship, and oneness with God the Father.
It was a visual way of emphasizing Christ’s divinity, lordship, and oneness with God the Father.
Fourth-century Christians were in religious competition with traditional Romans. It was a “clash of gods,” as one art historian called it. Christians and “pagans” vied for supremacy in the changing world of the late empire. Images of the enthroned Christ were not only inspiring devotional images, but also visual rhetoric in the religious contest of the time.
Neither the beardless nor the bearded portrait type attempted to represent what Jesus had actually looked like during his mortal life. Instead, early Christian art drew upon existing Greco-Roman visual culture to depict biblical narratives and assert theological claims about the person and work of Jesus. Visual art is not necessarily (not even usually) trying to represent historical fact, even today.
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Developments in Portrayals of Jesus
— Creeds, imperial politics, and medieval legends transformed depictions of Jesus into an enthroned, bearded ruler while gradually normalizing images of the crucifixion.
How did theological developments, like the Nicene Creed or debates about the divine nature of Jesus, affect Christian artwork?
The fourth-century councils that produced creeds defining the relationship of the Father and the Son and asserting Christ’s full divinity may in part explain the emergence of the bearded, long-haired, enthroned Christ that appeared in the latter part of the century. This was visual vocabulary that could convey belief in an exalted Christ who watched over the world and ruled from on high.
What role did legends of miraculous, “not-made-by-human-hands” images of Jesus play in standardizing his portrait in European Christian art?
Legends about miraculous images of Jesus, such as the Mandylion of Edessa or the Veil of Veronica, imparted a quasi-canonical status to certain visual characteristics used in depictions of Jesus, such as shoulder-length, light brown hair parted in the middle, and a long beard forked in the middle.
What was the “Letter of Lentulus,” how did it affect Western portrayals of Jesus, and what historical evidence proves it was a medieval forgery rather than a contemporary Roman document?
The “Letter of Lentulus” is a fourteenth-century document that enjoyed wide popularity in medieval Europe. It purports to be a first-hand account of a Roman official who witnessed the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate.
“Lentulus” gives a physical description of Jesus as tall, awe-inspiring, with shoulder-length, light brown hair (“the color of an unripe hazelnut”) parted in the middle, a full beard, forked in the middle, and a serious demeanor (“He has never been seen laughing”). The description and others inspired by it distance Jesus from his first-century Jewish environment and instead depict him as distinctively unlike his contemporaries. This is not only anti-Semitic, but it is also contrary to the earliest Christian writings that describe Jesus as like his contemporaries, and even insist that he needed to be like his brothers and sisters to help them.
The description in the Letter of Lentulus matches the way Jesus was being depicted in late medieval European art, and may have been written to accompany a medieval painting. It exerted a standardizing influence in European and then American art up through the 20th century.
Numerous factors lead historians to identify the Letter of Lentulus as a fourteenth-century fabrication: It first appears in fourteenth-century manuscripts; it contains many historical inaccuracies; it uses terms for the Roman official “Lentulus” that were not in use in the first century; it names the wrong Roman emperor; the names of the Roman governors of Judea are actually known in historical records and none of them is named Lentulus; the letter itself is oddly interested in describing Jesus’s physical appearance, without conveying why a first-century Roman official would find this at all worth commenting on (see Taylor, What Did Jesus Look Like? 16-23).
Why was the crucifixion rare in early Christian artwork, and why did it become more prominent later on?
Paul wrote that the message of “Christ crucified” was a scandal, “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23). Crucifixion was a horrific public execution, agonizingly painful for its victims, and a means of public shaming and subduing potential insurrectionists. The claim that God’s Son had died by crucifixion would have felt incomprehensible in the Roman world. That may have been one of the reasons why the subject of the crucifixion was not part of the earliest Christian art.
In the fourth century, after the Emperor Constantine made Christianity a legal religion and gave it imperial support, the subject of the crucifixion began to find expression in Christian art. Some sarcophagi depict two vanquished Roman soldiers asleep beneath a triumphant cross. These scenes point beyond crucifixion to the resurrection, and seem to represent Paul’s idea that for believers, the message of Christ crucified was “the power of God and the wisdom of God” that upends the world’s notions of power and shame (1 Cor 1:24-31 NRSV). It was a victory rather than a defeat.
Constantine also sponsored the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, built over what was believed to be the place of Christ’s crucifixion and burial. Pilgrims who flocked there from throughout the empire saw the cross that had been erected in the church, and brought home pilgrimage tokens depicting the cross. The cross image spread throughout the Roman world.
In the fifth century we finally see the first depictions of the crucifixion that actually portray Jesus hanging on the cross. By this point, Christianity was the dominant religion in the Mediterranean world, and the crucifixion was no longer the scandal it had once been.
Medieval artists painted depictions of Jesus as “a man of sorrows” hanging on the cross, moving viewers to contemplate Christ’s suffering and empathy for human suffering. Ancient and Medieval Christians came to see the scene of the crucifixion as the ultimate expression of God’s love for humanity; they saw Christ’s outstretched arms as an eternal, worldwide embrace, taking into himself all our violence, cruelty, and suffering, and returning love, forgiveness, and healing.
Latter-day Legacy
— Latter-day Saint artists traditionally inherited European portrait conventions, but modern creators increasingly explore diverse, historically grounded representations of Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, how has this complex legacy of early and medieval Christian portrayals trickled down to influence modern Latter-day Saint artwork?
Latter-day Saint visual culture inherited the European tradition and has developed in its wake. I’m not an expert in this area so I’ll point readers to Jennifer Champoux’s excellent chapter on Jesus in Latter-day Saint art and her “From the Desk” interview, “How Have Latter-day Saints Portrayed Jesus Christ?”
I can just summarize that for much of LDS history, depictions of Jesus have worked within the centuries-old conventions of the European tradition, depicting Jesus with fair skin, light brown shoulder-length hair, a long beard, long robes, and a somber facial expression. Since that is the long-established convention, any image of Jesus that departs too much from that template might no longer be recognizable as “Jesus.”
But in recent years Latter-day Saint artwork has increasingly explored diverse styles and new visual strategies for representing Jesus. Some of these efforts depict Jesus with a brown complexion, moving closer to the historical reality and reflecting 21st-century efforts to “root out racism.” Others take the emphasis off Jesus’s appearance and point instead to aspects of his life or deeds. In a way, these new directions in LDS art are quintessentially Latter-day Saint as they both turn toward the past and seek new inspiration relevant in our own time. Maybe that’s what Restoration is about.
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About the Scholar
Mark D. Ellison is a Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. His academic research focuses on biblical reception, early Christian art, material culture, and the social world of late antiquity. He is a co-author of Picturing Christ: Understanding Depictions of Jesus in History and Art (2026) and co-editor of Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints (2022). Ellison earned a PhD in early Christianity and early Christian art from Vanderbilt University and has participated in archaeological excavations in Roman Palestine, bringing deep material context to his research. His interdisciplinary approach offers vital scholarly context for exploring how early Christians portrayed Jesus across ancient art, scripture, and theological tradition.
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