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I’ve always known what Jesus looks like — haven’t I? Lachlan Goudie paints the Holy Land

The artist’s view of the Holy Land was shaped by his painter father, but when he took his sketchpad to the Middle East for a new Easter BBC series, he discovered a very different picture
Lachlan Goudie
The Times
Lachlan Goudie travelled to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories for the new BBC series
Lachlan Goudie travelled to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories for the new BBC series
OXFORD FILMS
Lachlan Goudie
The Times

I don’t think there has been a time when I didn’t know what Jesus looked like. Long hair, beard and moustache, often blond and blue-eyed — right? Well, on a recent trip to the Holy Land to film a two-part Easter special for BBC One, I didn’t encounter many of those types of faces.

The European artists who first painted Jesus’s portrait had no idea what a Middle Eastern carpenter’s son would look like, but they did know what gods looked like — classical gods such as Zeus and Poseidon. Those were the faces that became a template for the Christian Messiah, an image that has endured, whether on canvas, film, or miraculously burnt on to pieces of toast.

Bethlehem Street Scene by Lachlan Goudie. Visiting the city was a “culture shock”, the artist says
Bethlehem Street Scene by Lachlan Goudie. Visiting the city was a “culture shock”, the artist says
LACHLAN GOUDIE

My picture of the Holy Land