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Friday, 28 August Insights Winter 2026

Faith · Culture · Life

News · World News

Is this Jesus’ face?

Dutch photographer and digital designer Bas Uterwijk has used artificial intelligence to create a ‘photograph’ of Jesus…or what he could have looked like. Mr Uterwijk works on videogames and other works of digital art. He used ‘deep learning’ software called Artbreeder to recreate Jesus’ likeness.

Dutch photographer and digital designer Bas Uterwijk has used artificial intelligence to create a ‘photograph’ of Jesus…or what he could have looked like.

Mr Uterwijk works on videogames and other works of digital art. He used ‘deep learning’ software called Artbreeder to recreate Jesus’ likeness. The software uses an approach that takes into account a wide number of data sources, including what people know of the subject.

The Bible includes few descriptions of Jesus’ earthly appearance, other than to suggest that he would not have stood out from a crowd.

The software concluded that Jesus would have had darker skin tones in keeping with those of the Galilean region.

It should be noted that Mr Uterwijk was not entirely reliant on the software, and made a few of  his own judgements while creating the image, including to portray Jesus with shorter hair.

Mr Uterwijk’s other subjects include famous historical figures such as Elizabeth I, Napoleon, and George Washington.

Comments (3)

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  • Ellie Sturt

    It should be noted that Jesus likely had short hair, not long! Most Jewish men from Galilee would have kept short hair - keeps it cleaner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16F_JCJFJpg

  • Jonathan

    It should also be noted that Jesus was rarely indoors, he was always outside traveling. In those days, the temperature was really hot, so men kept their hair short because it was always hot.

  • Gene Moss

    When I died this is almost exactly what He looked like as we walked together. Except his eyes were clear like blue eyes but Brown or topaz. When I see this picture it takes me back to the moment I looked into his eyes right before coming back.

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