jesus-sallman

The Head of Christ is a 1940 painting by American artist Warner Sallman (1892–1968). Sallman create several versions of the white, blue-eyed, longhaired Jesus looking into the distance that have become iconic for American protestant denominations as Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Church of God, and the Evangelical Covenant Church. The Baptist Bookstore initially popularized the painting, distributing various sized lithographic images for sale throughout the southern United States. The Salvation Army and the YMCA, as members of the USO, handed out pocket-sized versions of the painting to American service members heading overseas during World War II. By far the most popular of Sallman’s pictures, the Head of Christ has been reproduced more than 500 million times.