HISTORICAL FACTS BEHIND THE POPULAR POTRAIT OF JESUS OF NAZARETH

  MindGames   Sep 6, 2017   0   1288  Add to Reading List

HISTORICAL FACTS BEHIND THE POPULAR POTRAIT OF JESUS OF NAZARETH

HISTORICAL FACTS BEHIND THE POPULAR POTRAIT OF JESUS OF NAZARETH
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The image of Jesus of Nazareth from the iconic painting is familiar to many Christians. You probably don’t even need to guess which one I’m referring to, the picture may already be so deeply embedded into your mind, you can see it clear as day even as we speak. Many christian grew up with this portrait hung in their home, or perhaps at their church. However, most don’t know the real story behind the image.

Many of us probably have the romantic notion that this famous painting of Jesus of Nazareth has been passed down throughout the centuries from a more well-known artist. However, it’s actually the handiwork of an American painter Warner Sallman, a mid-westerner from Chicago, Illinois. This talented artist actually crafted over 500 pieces of artwork, but it was his “Head of Christ” painting that has been reproduced over half a billion times.

Head of Christ
Head of Christ

The painting was actually a genius work of art from the Illinois man, he tried his best to make it look ancient and acceptable in the Christian world, although, critics of the time have criticize the painting as American Jesus, it’s was said to be fierce, passive and too Caucasian, with a modern look of an American savior, it was dubbed the “America Jesus”

But going through the background of the famous artiste, it was revealed that Sallman is Swedish and come up with a relatively acceptable picture of the son of God which was easy to relate with by the Christian populace during the world war. It’s difficult to actually be sure he came up with an American Jesus even when his painting is widely accepted and relateably so by many others either American or not, after the war, the world came face to face with the picture of a savior which was clearly needed in a time of despair.

Jesus as the great warrior
Jesus as the great warrior

But how Sallman came up with this famous replica of faith is no coincidence, he was commissioned by the Methodist church in downtown Chicago to come up with a picture of Jesus of Nazareth which can be related to and clearly represent the modern faith, while he was struggling with the deadline, he slept off while working and the image appear to him so vividly in his dream that it was easy for him to deliver in it painting the very way it was seen.

Jesus as the good Shepard
Jesus as the good Shepard

But either created by a lowly background artist, the image has been a measure of believed, revival, faith and hope for the despair for generations either in the past or the one to come. The images of Christ created by Sallman has circulated through millions generations of christiandom and will continue to be. These makes the work of this lowly man one of the most important work of art in the world.

Jesus as a child
Jesus as a child

Next time you see the head of Jesus and all other Jesus of Nazareth paintings, remember the inspirations, the vision, the hope it has brought to billions of generations. The impact of the creations by this lowly humble mid western Chicago artist expressly depict the way at which the son of man came to this earth. Its established that the only artiste that can capture the image of Christ perfectly so is a man with his similar earthly background.

picture credit: faithtap.

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