Christians have been making images of Jesus since the early centuries of the church.

The Holy Shroud of Turin is probably the most famous (and most controversial) image of Christ.

Many have argued that it is a direct-contact image of Christ, dating from the 1st century AD, while others rely on carbon dating tests carried out in 1988 which suggest it can be dated back to 1260 at the very earliest.

This unfamiliar portrait of Jesus was made specially for a BBC programme broadcast during Easter 2001, called Son of God.

The head of Jesus was created by a production team which took into consideration medical, archaeological, geographical and artistic evidence from the time of Jesus. To get the reconstruction off to a good start it was necessary to begin with a head typical of people from Jesus’ place and time.

Jewish heads are very different today to 2000 years ago, so the team looked for a Jewish skull from the period of Jesus.

Reports are often published in newspapers of people who believe that statues of Jesus have been weeping real tears. But very rarely – if ever – do we hear of laughter being heard from those statues. Why is it that Jesus is always thought to be so sad?

Sadly, the laughter of Jesus isn’t recorded in the Gospels. While one famous verse tells us that “Jesus wept”, there’s no verse which tells us, “Jesus laughed”.

This picture of Jesus laughing has another side to it, though. Although no one knows who made the picture, it is said to come from Latin America and is popular among poor communities. Despite the poverty and injustice suffered by poor people around the world, this image of Jesus speaks of hope, that the chains of oppression will be broken and people and communities will be free to become all that they are meant to be.

As Jesus himself said: “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh” (Luke 6:21). The laughter of Jesus is the laughter of hope and joy in the face of despair.

More faces here.

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