What Did Jesus Look Like?

by Joan E. Taylor

Overview

Jesus Christ is arguably the most famous man who ever lived. His image adorns countless churches, icons, and paintings. He is the subject of millions of statues, sculptures, devotional objects and works of art. Everyone can conjure an image of Jesus: usually as a handsome, white man with flowing locks and pristine linen robes.

But what did Jesus really look like? Is our popular image of Jesus overly westernized and untrue to historical reality?

This question continues to fascinate. Leading Christian Origins scholar Joan E. Taylor surveys the historical evidence, and the prevalent image of Jesus in art and culture, to suggest an entirely different vision of this most famous of men.

He may even have had short hair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780567671509
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/08/2018
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,034,419
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.99(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

Joan E. Taylor is Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King's College London, UK.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1. Behold the Man? The Missing Picture of Jesus' Appearance
2. The Ethnicity of Jesus: From the Apostle Paul to the Letter of Lentulus
3. True Image: The Legend of Veronica
4. Jesus' Self-Portrait: The Lateran Acheropita, the Mandylion and the Turin Shroud
5 Christ Almighty: The Byzantine Cosmocrator
6. Boy Wonder-Worker: Jesus in Early Christian Art
7. Ugly or Unstable: Suffering Servant or Polymorph
8. Beard and Basics: The Ragged Philosopher
9. Flesh and Bones: Age, Height, and Body
10. Top to Toe: Dressing Jesus
11. What Jesus Looked Like
List of Image Credits
Index

Editorial Reviews

[What did Jesus Look Like?] is a rich and lavishly illustrated adventure into a vexing historical question.” - Biblical Theology Bulletin

“Joan E. Taylor holds a well-deserved reputation as an eminent scholar of the historical Jesus, and this book will increase readers’ appreciation for her perceptive analysis and research… a beautiful and highly recommended book.” - Catholic Biblical Quarterly

“In this beautifully written, lavishly artistic, and appealing book, Taylor (King's College London, UK) challenges readers to reappraise their mental picture of what Jesus looked like … By tracing the artistic development of Jesus to the archaeological findings of the period, Taylor demolishes the customary and culturally recognized Jesus in favor of a more realistic picture of Jesus's physical appearance. Summing Up: Highly recommended.” – CHOICE

“Taylor’s gorgeous book can be recommended for university classrooms as a text useful for studies of Christian iconography, or the history of ideas about Jesus.” – Reading Religion

“What Did Jesus Look Like? is significant for all who are interested in Christian history and faith […] Each time I flipped through it and beheld the pieces of art, I was flooded with memories of my own experiences involving images of Jesus. Time and again, I felt like Holmes’s comrade, Dr. Watson. With each turban of the page, I was astounded as Taylor took historical clues and transformed my confusion into clarity.” – The Christian Century

“An exceptionally grand book … a survey so rich in textual illustration and artistry that by the time the reader has made it through to the end of the book their only utterance is a quietly whispered ‘wow’ breathed out in awe … This book is genius. A term I am not used to using of books, or most authors and scholars. But here it applies to both book and scholar. Pure genius.” – Jim West, Swinglius Redivivus

From the Publisher