Jesus

Jesus (Greek: Ἰησοῦς Iēsoûs), also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, is Christianity's central figure, both as Messiah and, for most Christians, as God incarnate. In Islam he is regarded as a very important prophet.

Artistic portrayals

Jesus has been portrayed in countless paintings and sculptures throughout the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and modern times. Often he is portrayed as looking like a male from the region of the artist creating the portrait. According to historians, forensic scientists, and genetics experts, he was most likely a bronze-skinned man—resembling a modern-day man of Middle Eastern descent.

Related Topics:
Painting - Sculpture - Middle Ages - Renaissance - Middle Eastern

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Jesus has been featured in many films and media forms, sometimes seriously, and other times satirically. The British musical stage play Jerry Springer - The Opera is a notable recent example of the latter. Many of these portrayals have attracted controversy, either when they were intended to be based on genuine Biblical accounts (such as Mel Gibson's 2004 film The Passion of the Christ and Pier Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew) or based on alternative interpretations (such as Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ). Other portrayals have attracted less controversy, such as the television miniseries Jesus of Nazareth by Franco Zeffirelli. Another theme is bringing Jesus' story into the present day (such as in Jesus of Montreal) or imagining his Second Coming (in The Seventh Sign, for example). In many films Jesus himself is a minor character, used to develop the overall themes or to provide context. For example, in Ben-Hur and The Life of Brian Jesus only appears in a few scenes.

Related Topics:
Satirically - Jerry Springer - The Opera - Mel Gibson - 2004 - The Passion of the Christ - Pier Pasolini - The Gospel According to St. Matthew - Martin Scorsese - The Last Temptation of Christ - Miniseries - Jesus of Nazareth - Franco Zeffirelli - Jesus of Montreal - The Seventh Sign - Ben-Hur - The Life of Brian

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In music, many songs refer to Jesus and Jesus provides the theme for many classical works throughout musical history.

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Songs refer to Jesus - Musical history

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In literature, we find Yeshua, the historical original of Jesus, as a character in the fantasy novel The Master and Margarita, by the 20th century Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov and in the science fiction short novel Riverworld by the 20th-century American writer Philip Jose Farmer. The portrayal in these two works is so similar that Farmer's narrative can easily be read as a sequel to Bulgakov's.

Related Topics:
The Master and Margarita - 20th century - Russia - Mikhail Bulgakov - Science fiction - Riverworld - American - Philip Jose Farmer

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A mystical version of Jesus as the Eternal Holy Child can be read in the story The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. Also the Portuguese Nobel Prize winner José Saramago wrote his novel The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (ISBN 0151367000) based on his atheist view of Jesus and the Gospels.

Related Topics:
Mystical - Eternal Holy Child - The Selfish Giant - Oscar Wilde - Nobel Prize - José Saramago - The Gospel According to Jesus Christ - Gospels

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