Portraits of the Savior

Tonight I had the privilege of hearing Howard Lyon speak about his art. Lyon's commercial work has been primarily in the world of fantasy illustrations, RPGs, and video game art direction. He is also, like me, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he has painted a number of religious works, including the portrait of Christ above, titled "Light of the World."

Brother Lyon spoke about how important it is to him that his portraits be as accurate as possible--he uses friends and family members as models in much of his work. When painting the Savior, however, verisimilitude presents a challenge because no one really knows what Jesus looked like, and there are so many different representations of him already, in an incredible range of styles. If he were to ask a chapel full of people which painting of Christ was their favorite, he said, he would likely get at least twenty different answers. Because of these things, it's very difficult to create a portrait of Christ that will feel "accurate" to everyone. In painting "Light of the World," then, Brother Lyon decided that he would focus on accurately representing the way the Savior made him feel. 

That got me thinking about my own favorite portrait of Jesus, and by extension, those of others. I wondered what our favorite representations of Jesus might say about the Savior makes us feel, how we feel about the Savior. It has struck me in the past how within the LDS church (and probably in cultures generally) over time different paintings of Jesus seem to go in and out of popularity, and how that might reflect or influence on a cultural level what our personal preferences might reflect on an individual level. That might be an interesting research project for another time, but for now I just want to share a few of my favorite pictures of Jesus and meditate a little bit, and ask my readers to meditate, on how these representations of Christ reflect aspects of our relationship with Christ.

"Christ and the Rich Young Ruler" by Heinrich Hoffman. 

Under US Copyright law, this work is in the public domain.

The image above is Heinrich Hoffman’s “Christ and the Rich Young Ruler”. It's been my favorite portrait of Jesus for many years, and a copy of it hangs on my bedroom wall. The story comes from Mark 10:17–25, in which an earnest young man asks Christ what he must do to inherit eternal life. In the discourse that follows, we learn that this young man has scrupulously kept all the commandments throughout his life. Jesus tells him that the only thing he still needs to do is to give all his worldly possessions to the poor, and "take up the cross, and follow me." The young man leaves sorrowfully, and passes out of the record--we never learn whether or not he was ultimately willing to follow Christ.

Whenever I hear this story or see this painting, I'm reminded of another story, from the Book of Mormon. In Alma chapter 22, we read of a missionary named Aaron, who went to preach among the Lamanites, his hereditary enemies. In the course of time he meets with the king of the Lamanites, who, after being taught about Christ, asks Aaron, just as the rich young man asked Jesus, what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Aaron tells him that he must repent and call upon God in faith, the king offers this prayer:

"O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee."

My love for Hoffman's portrait is partly aesthetic. Though he wasn't a Pre-Raphaelite, it bears a similarity of style, and that style has always appealed to me. I love the warmth of the colors, the way the lines suggest gentle movement, as Christ beckons the youth to follow him. Christ's expression is one of profound compassion. Perhaps, also, I love it because it represents a powerful teaching moment. When I see it, I'm moved to ask myself what I wouldn't give to know God.

Another favorite is "Christ in Red Robe" by Minerva Teichert. Teichert is among my favorite LDS artists. Her style is rather unlike that of most other LDS painters, who tend more toward realism. She's also the only really prominent woman artist in the church that I know of, and her subjects often feature women, as in this painting of Christ, in which you can see two women reaching toward Christ at his second coming.

Walter Rane is another of my favorite LDS artists. His painting, "Jehovah Creates the Earth," really moves me in its depiction of Christ's majesty and power.

"Jesus the Christ" by Del Parson

Owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

May be used for personal, noncommercial use 

This last painting, by Del Parson, isn't really one of my favorites (though I do like it), but I feel I should include it because it is arguably the portrait of Christ most commonly associated with the LDS church since 1983, which is about as far back as my memory can stretch. It's certainly the picture of Jesus I recall seeing the most as a child. There's even a Mormon urban legend about it, but I won't go into that (except to say that, not surprisingly, it isn't true). This painting is definitely part of my instinctive image of the Savior.

Do a Google image search of "Christ" and you will see an enormous range of images; from downright kitschy to some of the greatest works in the history of art; you will see Him depicted in attitudes of torment, sublimity, serenity, and even mirth; in periods of His life from infancy to the cross; and while most portraits of Christ look distinctly European, if you dig a little further you will see a wider range of ethnicity represented. Ultimately, however, it matters much less how we represent Jesus in our art than how we come to reflect His image in our own countenance.