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jezreelite t1_j4krqoi wrote

Reply to comment by The_MegaDingus in Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday! by AutoModerator

A reverse image search on TinEye shows that it's indeed a fresco from the Nunziatella catacombs in Rome.

However, Wikimedia Commons shows two images from the Nunziatella catacombs and seems to label both of them as frescos of Jesus.

The Quora user's errs, though, in putting a date of c. 3rd century on the frescoes (no one seems that certain and the range could be anywhere from the 3rd to 6th century) and saying that's it definitely the "original depiction of Jesus". There are other depictions of Jesus definitely from the 3rd century such as a slab showing the adoration of the Magi and a fresco from the Catacomb of Callixtus. One of the oldest known depictions of Jesus is actually a painting from a church in Syria that is dated to around 232 CE.

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The_MegaDingus t1_j4mhreq wrote

I wonder why I couldn’t find it anywhere else. Maybe it’s because I was using google to do the search? Anyway, that’s neat stuff, thanks for the assistance! I got curious after a discussion elsewhere and decided to go looking for some more info that led me to the Syrian depiction and later the aforementioned linked image. It looked like a canvas painting to me almost, since it has what appears to be a name at the bottom.

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