Early Images of Jesus

Jesus in Pagan Eyes

The graffito to the right was scratched into a wall on the Palatine Hill in Rome during the second century CE.

The crudely made letters read, "Alexamenos worship God."

The figure at the left is Alexamenos, who is shown worshipping a crucified man with a donkey's head.

Manetho had claimed that when the Israelites left Egypt they followed a donkey rather than Moses. And there seems to have been a misconception among Romans that the Jews worshipped a donkey.

So the pagan graffiti artist who ridicules Alexamenos adds an anti-semitic libel to his amazement that anyone could worship someone who had died by the most humiliating of deaths. We clearly see the disdain with which a pagan would view the prospect of revering a crucified savior.

During the second and third centuries, a Christian would not draw a picture of Jesus on the cross. The cross was still too hideous a reality to include it in art. However, one might see a Chi-Rho, the abbreviation of the word Christos (left). This abbreviation suggests the figure of a man (the Rho) on a cross (the Chi) without providing explicit detail.

The Good Shepherd

Meanwhile, Christians were portraying Jesus as the good shepherd.

Notice that in these images, Jesus is represented as a beardless youth taking care of the flock.

These images come from the catacombs (where Christians in Rome buried their dead)
... and from a sacrophagus.

Jesus the Healer

Here is a picture of Jesus healing the woman with a flow of blood. It comes from a woman's tomb in the catacombs. Again, Jesus is represented as a beardless youth.

Imperial Images of Jesus

After Christianity is officially adopted as the religion of the Roman Empire, we begin to see Jesus represented as if he were an Emperor and his associates appear as members of his court. Here is a picture of the apse in the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian (la Chiesa dei Santi Cosma e Damiano).

And here is an image from the Church of San Paolo.

Compare these images with the earlier images.

Also, notice that the style of the artwork itself has changed from the more naturalistic representations of classical Rome. The figures are now placed on a flat, idealized space. They face forward with wide eyes. This mode of representation is influenced by Neo-Platonism, and it attempts to draw the viewer's attention away from outer, physical appearances toward an inner, spiritual reality.