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Secondary sourceArtifactc. 1645

Jesus Christ, woodcut by Christoffel van Sichem III

Christoffel van Sichem III · c. 1645

A 17th-century woodcut portrait of Jesus, framed in an oval with a Latin inscription, made long after his lifetime.

A later artistic imagining of Jesus, made over a thousand years after his lifetime, showing how he was pictured in 17th-century Europe.

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Black and white woodcut print of a bearded man with long hair and a robe, shown in an oval frame with a Latin inscription and ornate decorative corners. The Latin text includes Psalm 44 wording about grace and beauty.
Christoffel van Sichem III, Jesus Christ, woodcut, c. 1645. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This is a black and white woodcut print made around 1645 by the engraver Christoffel van Sichem III. It shows a bearded man with long hair and a robe inside an oval frame, surrounded by a Latin inscription and decorative corners. It is kept today in the Wellcome Collection in London.

Why it matters

This print was made more than 1,600 years after Jesus lived, during a period when European artists produced many devotional images of religious figures. It tells us more about how 17th-century artists and audiences imagined Jesus than about his actual appearance, since no images were made during his lifetime.

Look closer

  • What details make this image look like a religious or devotional object rather than a realistic portrait?
  • Why might the artist have included a Latin inscription from the Psalms?
  • What does this image tell us about how people in the 1600s imagined Jesus, rather than how he actually looked?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jesus Christ on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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