Jesus Christ: Divine & Human

Basic Info

The Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) wrestled with the question of Jesus’ identity. Was he a Divine Person? Was he a human person? Could he be both? Would that mean he was two persons? That sounded impossible. The Bible wasn’t clear on the point and thoughtful, well-educated Christian leaders disagreed on the issue. The Council concluded that Jesus was one person with two natures: divine and human. Cyril of Alexandria had reached a similar conclusion that the Coptic Christians accepted.

Artists were then left with their own questions: How does one depict two natures in one person? Does one visually emphasize the human nature or the divine nature? Does one strive for a balance? Does it depend on the context?

Christians tend to look to Jesus’ divine nature when their lives and the world around them seem beyond their control and they need to trust in a higher power. Christians tend to look to Jesus’ human nature when they are striving to grow as disciples and to be agents of Jesus’ mission, spreading the Good News and/by carrying out works of mercy and justice. Balancing these two attitudes toward Jesus is perhaps an ideal goal but economic, political, social, environmental, and public health factors all have an impact on which way a particular group of Christians leans.

Historical Notes

In the earliest Christian art, we see some balance between Jesus’ divinity and humanity. The Middle Ages brought a shift toward Jesus’ divinity. The Renaissance, and it philosophical humanism, ushered in an emphasis on Jesus’ humanity. Shifts back and forth since then have been smaller and regionally localized.

What to Look For

Most Christians have an instinct about this issue, but artists use several elements to convey their emphasis. No one artwork is going to contain all these elements, nor is any single artwork going to be all one and none of the other. These cues will help one to decipher the image.

Visual Elements

• Emphasizing Humanity: Downward lines, earthy colors, rough textures, solid shapes
• Emphasizing Divinity: Upward lines, heavenly colors, smooth textures, ethereal shapes

Design Elements

• Emphasizing Humanity: Chaos, fragmentation, variation
• Emphasizing Divinity: Order, unity, consistency

Symbolic Elements

• Emphasizing Humanity: Blood, muscles, sinews, bones, tears, milk, dirt, sweat, death, pain
• Emphasizing Divinity: Floating bodies, angels, halos, mandorlas, heart visible outside chest cavity, blessings, miracles, transcending pain

Narrative Elements

• Emphasizing Humanity: Meals, walks, conversations, Jesus experiencing emotion or amusement, the infant Jesus nursing at Mary’s breast, the agony in the garden, the suffering of the scourging or crowning, a heavy body being taken from the cross
• Emphasizing Divinity: Miracles; healings; the Last Judgment; the child Jesus holding a globe with a cross on top; the infant Jesus looking like a mature, wise thinker instead of a baby; the Transfiguration; serenity while hanging on the cross; the Resurrection; the Ascension

Questions to Focus a General Interpretation

Where does this artwork fall on the spectrum between very divine and very human? In this particular artwork, what is the positive effect of this slant? What is the downside risk of this slant? 

Does the artwork lean toward assuring the viewer that God is present and in charge and cares for his children (priestly art), or does it lean toward inspiring the viewer to take action, to be a functional part of the Body of Christ, to participate in Jesus’ mission in the world (prophetic art)?

Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation

Do you find yourself attracted to the divine or human emphasis in the depiction of Jesus in this artwork? Does this Jesus offer something that you particularly need right now? Does the artwork bring any clarity to what those needs are?

What is your emotional response to this image? What in your background might be behind your response? Does the artwork affirm that part of your background or call it into question?

Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation

What was or might have been going on politically, economically, socially, or environmentally in the artist’s time and place that would have made the slant more attractive to viewers? What might have been the intended message?