Jump to content
An Old School Catholic Message Board

Pictures Of Jesus


Guest

Recommended Posts

not exactly what I meant. If I was black though and its historically prooven Jesus wasn't pale white skinned yet that's all I seen in pictures put out by the church I would wonder why. Why not depict him as other skin colors if you're not gonna put in pictures what he actually looked like. Why just put pics out of him pale skin blue eyed ?

 

I think you are reading too much into this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you are reading too much into this.

nah not really...it was just a honest observation and question...I'm friends with a lot of black people though so I try to put myself in their shoes...not that they think how I do on this issue...mabey it would make no difference to them...but it was just an observation of being subscribed to a bunch of catholic pages on facebook and they all put out pics of Jesus and Mary and you never see a pic of them black...but tons of pics of them as this really pale white...so I was just wondering why...Godbless... Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

People like to see white Jesus because Jesus became more broadly known in a European-based empire.  People like to see Jesus as their race because it helps them see how closely he relates to them. They can identify with Him becoming one of them. Aloysius is right: it's not just about history. It's about theology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

People like to see white Jesus because Jesus became more broadly known in a European-based empire. People like to see Jesus as their race because it helps them see how closely he relates to them. They can identify with Him becoming one of them. Aloysius is right: it's not just about history. It's about theology.

exactly why I think it would be cool to see pics of a black Jesus... Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am curious as to the iconography principle of anamnesis relating to artwork and iconography like this.  I understand that many of the Black Madonnas came about from the smoke of candles in Churches darkened them, but generally the Eastern iconographic theology traces the lineage of icons of the Theotokos to the common memory of the Church and iconographers aren't really supposed to have any sort of artistic license in the process of writing icons, so I would imagine things like Our Lady of China and all that would not be proper in Eastern iconography; I don't know if reproducing Black Madonnas is proper, I'm not an expert in iconography but I know an iconographer is not said to merely be an artist painting a picture, but someone who mysteriously participates in the common memory of the Church when they write the icon.

 

Western artwork and iconography certainly contains a lot of leeway for artistic license like this, of course, and I find it quite meaningful; but I wonder about the context of Eastern icons.  Eastern Icons certainly don't have the blond haired blue eyed characters (an Eastern icon of Christ could easily be seen as an image of a truly semitic man), but nor do they incarnate the images into many particular cultural contexts in this same way like we see in some of the examples in this thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AccountDeleted

I think pictures of Jesus and Mary are very personal because God speaks to us in different ways. I have never liked icons although I know that so many people love them. I adore Hook's Head of Jesus (Surfer Jesus) because He just seems so human and approachable. I love the Pieta as well because it touches me inside. Since we don't have any photographs (and maybe that is why the Incarnation happened when it did?) we use our imagination to visualize the Word made flesh.

 

Although Jesus probably looked like a typical man of Jewish descent at that time (brown skin, curly hair, beard etc) Someone might be able to relate to God more personally through a black Jesus or an Asian madonna or whatever, just as I relate to my surfer Jesus with His gentle eyes and understanding expression. In the end,it's not the flesh that matters is it? As Jesus said... 'The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.' John 6:63

 

Here's my love...

 

head-of-christ-large-image-zoom.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...