Your Own Personal Jesus

The most popular image of Jesus Christ in the world—a white man with blue eyes, wavy brown hair, and a soft, peaceful gaze—comes from Head of Christ, a 1940 painting by Chicago artist Warner Sallman. It’s been reproduced over a billion times, shaping how millions imagine Jesus.

Sallman started as a commercial illustrator, sketching ads for pianos and trucks before volunteering as art director for The Covenant Companion, a Christian youth magazine. In 1924, scrambling for a cover idea, he had a vision in his sleep, grabbed a pencil, and sketched Jesus’s face. That charcoal drawing—Jesus with flowing hair, trimmed beard, and serene eyes—became the foundation for Head of Christ, though it wouldn’t be painted for another 15 years.

Sallman’s inspiration likely included Friend of the Humble (1892) by French artist Léon-Augustin Lhermitte, which he saw in Ladies’ Home Journal. But the deeper cultural backdrop was the rise of “Muscular Christianity”—a reaction to fears that urban life was making men weak and unmanly. Protestant leaders wanted a stronger, more masculine Christ to inspire young men, and Sallman aimed to deliver exactly that. He later called his image a “manly” Jesus.

The turning point came in the late 1930s, when Warner Press, a Christian publisher, suggested turning Sallman’s black-and-white sketch into a color oil painting. Sallman initially ignored the idea but eventually created Head of Christ in 1940. When Warner Press rep Fred Bates saw it hanging over the family piano, he was captivated. He saw commercial potential.

In 1941, Warner Press printed 100,000 copies, selling out in two months. By year’s end, over a million had been distributed through churches, catalogs, and Christian bookstores. Then came World War II. As part of a campaign called “Christ in Every Purse,” pocket-sized versions were given to soldiers, many of whom carried them through the war. For them, it became a talisman—an image of comfort, protection, and faith.

By the 1950s, Head of Christ was everywhere—public schools, hospitals, and even courtrooms—just as “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. The painting had become the default image of Jesus. Before 1940, depictions of Christ varied widely, but after Head of Christ, it became the Jesus, the standard by which all others were judged.

But its dominance also cemented a white Jesus in the cultural imagination. Scholars point out that the historical Jesus, a Middle Eastern Jew, likely had darker skin. Yet Head of Christ reinforced whiteness as central to Christian identity in America. As historian David Morgan puts it, “It gave white Americans a Jesus that was theirs.”

Still, Head of Christ wasn’t only embraced by white Christians. Black churches often featured it on handheld fans and in Bibles—largely because religious merchandise was controlled by white companies that prioritized profit over diversity. As theologian Willie James Jennings notes, black churches simply took what was available.

By the 1960s, the tide began to turn. With the rise of the Black Power movement, black congregations started rejecting white Jesus imagery. Some replaced stained glass windows and murals. After the KKK bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963, killing four black girls, the church later installed a stained glass Wales Window—a striking image of a black Jesus dressed in white.

Despite these shifts, Head of Christ remains deeply embedded in Christian culture. It continues to define how millions picture Jesus, a testament to its power—and its lasting influence on race and religion in America.