# Find me a link this painting of blue eyes Jesus **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003 "2006-04-17T14:21:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/1 "2006-04-17T14:21:11Z")
There is a painting of Jesus that is very popular in Baptist churches. I am pretty sure it was done in the mid-20th century, and was apparently widely distributed… He is facing the viewer’s left and his eyes are cast up and far away. He has long flowing brown hair and blue eyes (which irks teh hell outta me!) I guess you would call it a portrait, as it shows him from the shoulders up… Any backstory on the painting would be nice too! Gracias! ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/2 "2006-04-17T14:23:13Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > There is a painting of Jesus that is very popular in Baptist churches. I am pretty sure it was done in the mid-20th century, and was apparently widely distributed… > > He is facing the viewer’s left and his eyes are cast up and far away. He has long flowing brown hair and blue eyes (which irks teh hell outta me!) > > I guess you would call it a portrait, as it shows him from the shoulders up… > > Any backstory on the painting would be nice too! > > Gracias! OK here it is…apparently he is facing right… [http://www.godweb.org/sallman.htm](http://www.godweb.org/sallman.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/3 "2006-04-17T14:31:45Z")
I’ve looked at several versions of that picture on different websites, and none of them, including your link, appear to have blue eyes. They look brown, or just dark to me. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/4 "2006-04-17T14:36:19Z")
Wow, Sallman also did [this painting](http://picturesofjesus4you.com/162.html), and [this one too](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.harlanjberk.com/autographs/images/auto/au10071a.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.harlanjberk.com/autographs/details.asp%3Finventorynumber%3D10071%26linenum%3D14%26subject%3DArtists&h=574&w=400&sz=101&hl=en&start=15&tbnid=oh572h399WUzXM:&tbnh=132&tbnw=91&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWarner%2BSallman%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26c2coff%3D1%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN). Wikepedia is [not helpful](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Sallman&fulltext=fulltext&sourceid=mozilla-search) in learning about the artist, but [here’s a short biography](http://www.christcenteredmall.com/stores/art/sallman/sallmanbiography.htm). ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/5 "2006-04-17T14:40:03Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I’ve looked at several versions of that picture on different websites, and none of them, including your link, appear to have blue eyes. They look brown, or just dark to me. We have a giant version (maybe 4’x3’) in our church and the eyes are most definitely blue. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/6 "2006-04-17T14:43:50Z")
[Here is tha largest online version](http://faculty.samford.edu/~tsmcginn/bp/images/sallman_jesus.jpg) I could find, and they are not blue. Is it possible some publishers altered the original to appear to ethnophobes? ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/7 "2006-04-17T14:50:54Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > [Here is tha largest online version](http://faculty.samford.edu/~tsmcginn/bp/images/sallman_jesus.jpg) I could find, and they are not blue. Is it possible some publishers altered the original to appear to ethnophobes? Blow that picture up and look closely. They are blue. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/8 "2006-04-17T14:54:51Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Blow that picture up and look closely. They are blue. I did. My mileage is varying wildly from yours. [Now this is blue.](http://www.acsalaska.net/~fmurtley/sallmanjesusblue.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/9 "2006-04-17T14:54:55Z")
The commentary offered on the page linked by **newcrasher** looks awfully naïve where the guy acknowledges criticisms of Sallman’s work: 1. Jesus looks too feminine–oh, I see the gender police are at it again. :rolleyes: 2. It’s kitsch. Yeah, so? Even one of the greatest artists of all time, Albrecht Dürer, had his “Praying Hands” turned into kitsch. That’s what made America great! We can kitschify anything! Bring it on! 3. It’s Christian, which is a point against it for ex-Christians. Well, speaking as an ex-Christian, Jesus is OK with me, I love feminine men, we’re surrounded by so much kitsch already one more picture won’t matter. These objections seem quite trivial. The guy totally missed the main criticism, which is racial bias in favor of blond hair and blue eyes. Once I dated an African-American woman who came from Detroit and said the first portrait of Black Jesus ever to appear in a church, in Detroit in the 1960s, shocked some people. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/10 "2006-04-17T14:59:10Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I did. My mileage is varying wildly from yours. [Now this is blue.](http://www.acsalaska.net/~fmurtley/sallmanjesusblue.jpg) > [@](#): > > Painter Warner Sallman’s name is little-known. But his work is universal. His most famous piece is the 1940 painting “Head of Christ.” It’s an oil-on-canvas work that depicts Christ in profile. In it Jesus gazes into the distance, his blue eyes cast slightly upward and his lips pursed. He has long, sandy hair which flows down his neck and shoulders. from [here](http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2002_03/devotional_art.htm) Trust me, it is a resolution issue with viewing it on the PC. The eyes are blue… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/11 "2006-04-17T15:00:36Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Blow that picture up and look closely. They are blue. My RGB pixel meter says R80 G89 B58; more greeny than bluish. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/12 "2006-04-17T15:04:01Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I did. My mileage is varying wildly from yours. [Now this is blue.](http://www.acsalaska.net/~fmurtley/sallmanjesusblue.jpg) Blue contacts maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/13 "2006-04-17T15:04:25Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Trust me, it is a resolution issue with viewing it on the PC. And how do we know it is not your PC rendering the image incorrectly? ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/14 "2006-04-17T15:05:06Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > My RGB pixel meter says R80 G89 B58; more greeny than bluish. Ok - well I have seen the picture IRL every week at church. I don’t think, wow it sure is racially insensitive that he has “greeny” eyes. I think wow it sure is racially insensitive that he has BLUE eyes. And every commentary you will find mentioning his eye color says they are blue… But call them dark, or gree, or whatever you like… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/15 "2006-04-17T15:06:18Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > And how do we know it is not your PC rendering the image incorrectly? Because I am relying on actually seeing the painting several times a week in real life, not my pc… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/16 "2006-04-17T15:07:01Z")
Looks brown to me. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/17 "2006-04-17T15:10:41Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Looks brown to me. IMHO. The fact that Jesus is depicted with blue eyes in Sallman’s “Head of Christ” is indesputable. Certainly the images available online may not be of sufficient quality to display that, but that doesn’t change the color in the original work. Do you contend the eyes are not blue? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/18 "2006-04-17T15:16:05Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > And every commentary you will find mentioning his eye color says they are blue… [Nuh uh…](http://www.uufh.org/newsdetail.html?key=275&back=1). > [@](#): > > I grew up with Sallman’s head of Christ as the primary image of Jesus. Jesus has northern European features, long wavy, auburn hair with blond highlights, **brown eyes** and, as a nod to where he was born, a tan. His long hair and beard, along with his tunic top let me know that he lived in another time, but he was one of my people. Perhaps the faithful always see the Jesus they want to see. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/19 "2006-04-17T15:20:20Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > Blue contacts maybe? No no, it’s the spice. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003/20 "2006-04-17T15:21:24Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > The fact that Jesus is depicted with blue eyes in Sallman’s “Head of Christ” is indesputable. I dispute it, therefore this statement is false. > [@](#): > > Do you contend the eyes are not blue? I contend that it is unresolved. There could certainly be altered versions of the painting out there, including the one you see every week. Or perhaps the color is so subtle, it leaves a lot to be inferred by the beholder; just within this thread we have had three diffrent opinions (blue, brown and green). Until we can examine the original, I have an open mind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-link-this-painting-of-blue-eyes-jesus/353003.md?page=2)