[Jedidah]

If I were to draw a picture today of John Rolfe marrying Pocohantas in Jamestown — never having laid eyes on either of them — how accurate do you think the image would be?

Same for the 4th century whiskers, or lack thereof.

[dangus]

You presume no-one ever made an image of him. By the fourth century, there were spread throughout Syria many versions of a legend, all agreeing on the key points, of a cloth which bore a miraculous image of Jesus. (The varied, yet substantially agreeing versions of the same legend suggests a common origin much older than the fourth century.)

Whether this image was the Shroud of Turin, the Mandylion, or the Veil of Veronica, or none of the above it suggests the image of Christ Pantocrator (the basis of Eastern Christian imagery of Jesus) was based on people who believed they actually did know what Jesus looked like.

Christ Pantocrator:

From the 6th century, based on much older paintings.

The Shroud of Turin:

Veronica's Veil:

One of six images, all remarkably similar, said to be Veronica's veil. It is believed quite likely that five are copies of one original, but which is the original is unknown.

Despite the distortions created by the physical abuse of the crucifixion and the prone posture in the Shroud of Turin, note the remarkable similarity between the images: the very long, thin nose; the cleft beard; the heavy brow; the high, gaunt cheekbones; the hairline with the high, single peak; and, in the Pantocrator and the veil at least, the eyes.