Back in 2015, British researchers came up with a model of what Christ looked like:

Through the help of an exciting new scientific field known as forensic anthropology commonly used in solving crimes, British scientists who teamed up with Israeli archaeologists came up with what is believed to be the most accurate recreation of Jesus’ Christ face in history.

What they came up with was pretty hideous:

Their claim was that Christ looked more like a barbaric brute and that all of the depictions since (especially the Renaissance portrayals) were inaccurate.

The technology was pretty weak in 2015 and they didn’t use all the available evidence.

In 2023, we ran a prompt using generative AI using the Shroud of Turin image and the text “average of all men on Earth” for our Stations of the Cross and the results were a lot better:

Now, someone has taken the idea and run with it and it’s all over social media:

We prefer ours still, but this is a haunting rendition and vindicates much of the artistic depictions throughout history.