She believes the lack of detail on Jesus’ appearance in the Gospel’s actually speaks volumes.
In fact, the only mention of Christ’s looks comes in the Book of Isaiah which reads: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.”
Professor Taylor, of King’s College London, who has written the book, ‘What Did Jesus Look Like?’, believes Christ would have been a short man who looked Middle Eastern who would have been disfigured and scarred.
As an outdoors carpenter, it is likely that Jesus’ face would have been leathery as he was constantly exposed to the searing sun of the Middle East.
Broken limbs and scarring would have also been common practice for this profession at the time and, without modern medical techniques, the bones would not have been able to set properly nor the scars sufficiently healed, which would have led to disfigurement.
A review of ‘What Did Jesus Look Like?’ published by the Daily Beast reads: “Taylor actually thinks that the silence about Jesus’ looks says something about his appearance.
“She points out that certain Biblical figures, like Moses and David, were described in ancient literature in terms that gestured to their good looks and attractiveness. But the evangelists provide no such indications for Jesus.
“While his face is radiantly white at the Transfiguration (the moment in the story when Jesus goes up a mountain and converses with Moses and Elijah), we do not know anything else about his facial features.
“Taylor argues that the silence on the question of Jesus’ appearance suggests that, contrary to cinematic tradition, he was not handsome.”
Ms Taylor also believed Jesus was a short man compared to today’s standards.
The historian wrote for the Irish Times: “What I have learnt is that Judaeans of this time were closest biologically to Iraqi Jews of the contemporary world.
“In terms of a colour palette then, think dark-brown to black hair, deep brown eyes, olive-brown skin. Jesus would have been a man of Middle Eastern appearance.
“In terms of height, an average man of this time stood 166 cm (5 ft 5 in) tall.”