Why is the popular image of Jesus inaccurate

A.� The traditional long, thin-faced, blue-eyed and fair-haired image of Jesus popularised by Renaissance artists is actually a 5th century creation. By this time Christianity was firmly established in the Mediterranean and this westernised version of Jesus reflects the religious agenda of the Church at the beginning of the dark ages. In its series Son of God the BBC has used the latest scientific, historical and archaeological evidence to create a digital image of what Jesus might really have looked like.

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Q.� What material did the BBC use to begin the reconstruction

A.� In order to start off in the right direction a Jewish skull from the 1st century was used. Modern Jewish skulls were avoided since even they are very different today to 2000 years ago. The average 1st century Jewish skull is much rounder and more robust than similarly aged skulls from the Mediterranean.

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Q.� How was Jesus' skull recreated

A.� By making a plaster cast of the 1st century Jewish skull. The cast was then given to Richard Neave, a forensic reconstruction expert with a 70% success rate in helping to identify nameless bodies, to put flesh onto the bones.

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Q.� How can you reconstruct a fleshy face from a bony skull

A.� It's a slow process involving taking over 100 standard scientific measurements in order to establish the skulls facial features. Clay was used to slowly build up the layers of muscle, fat and skin based on these measurements.

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Q.� How can things like hair colour be deduced from contemporary skulls

A.� It can't, evidence from a number of different sources was used to give the skull its finishing touches.

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Colouring evidence was based on contemporary conditions, like climate, and their affect on the complexion were considered along with the appearance of modern day Middle Eastern males. They have darker, thicker and curly hair than representations of Jesus normally have, along with a darker skin colour.

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Frescoes depicting Jewish faces from the 3rd century were also referred to. From these it was established that the men of Jesus' time wore their hair and beards short. This is backed up by contemporary biblical references to long haired men being unacceptable.

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Q.� How were all these different pieces of information brought together

A.� The reconstructed face was scanned into a computer and the 3-D image manipulated to produce a face that fitted the very best available evidence. The result is quite different from traditional Renaissance paintings of Jesus.

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Do you want to know how a modern scientific technique provides us with a window to the past Just click here to ask how it works.

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by Lisa Cardy