Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Historic Art and Design

First Advisor

Morgan Falconer

Second Advisor

Matthew Nichols

Abstract

This thesis examines the historical, religious, and cultural consequences of portraying Jesus as white within Christian art. Although Western art has overwhelmingly depicted Christ with white skin, archaeological, and contextual evidence supports a dark-skinned Jesus rooted in the ethnogeography of first century Palestine. The persistence of a White Jesus has shaped religious imagination and perception for centuries, reinforcing racial hierarchy and legitimizing systems of white supremacy. Through an interdisciplinary analysis combining biblical studies, Christian iconography, ethnography of ancient Semitic, Greco-Roman, and Egyptian peoples, medieval symbolism, modern mass-produced imagery, and Black thought, this study demonstrates how Jesus’ original complexion was gradually obscured. Drawing on liberation theology, this study advances the recovery of a dark-skinned Jesus as a counter to exploitation. The thesis argues that whitened depictions of Jesus have not only distorted historical reality but have also contributed to the marginalization of Black and Brown communities by associating whiteness with divinity.

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