For almost 2,000 years, people have thought about and talked about how Jesus Christ was portrayed. Scholars say that this description is probably not accurate, but traditional pictures of Him usually show him as a white European man with blue eyes. Recent work by experts aims to show a more true picture of Jesus based on the fact that he was born in Palestine, which is now Israel.
Bas Uterwijk, a Dutch photographer and computer artist, was asked to make a picture that correctly shows how Jesus probably looked. Uterwijk used Artbreeder’s machine learning features and cutting-edge technology to make a picture of the historical figure that he thought captured the spirit of that person.
Indeed, Uterwijk’s version is very different from the well-known versions that are part of our shared memory. “I know how to use computer-generated images and special effects,” he says. A neural network that has been trained on thousands of drawings and pictures of human faces is used by the AI program. Instead of showing an exact likeness based on science, Uterwijk’s portrait blends different cultural depictions of Jesus to make a new cultural representation.
History says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in 4 BC, grew up in Judea, and finally settled down in Nazareth. Author and expert on the history of Christianity Joan Taylor says that Jesus probably had olive skin, black hair, and brown eyes, which are traits popular among people from Judea and Egypt. Taylor says, “Jesus was not a pale person.” He wasn’t from Europe. His life was very much shaped by the times and places he lived in as a modern Jewish man.
More evidence suggests that Jesus seemed more grounded. “Things like long hair, robes, and beards have been seen in art since the 4th or 5th century,” says Taylor. He didn’t look like that at all. He was a wanderer who lived on the streets and was grateful for people who helped him. He was from a poor family. Literature from long ago also says that Jesus was humble and unassuming, like a beggar.
Richard Neave, an expert in forensic face reconstruction, helped make a new portrait of Jesus based on a typical Judean man from the first century. In this picture, Jesus is shown as a big man with black hair, a short beard, and brown skin, which fits with his background and the time period.
As we learn more about the real Jesus, these new pictures make us look at how He looked again and see Him as a product of His time and place. Let’s accept with humility the range and honesty that made up His time on earth.
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