Fair Jesus

An expert shows how Jesus is revealed in great paintings, in ways more subtle than words.

Kiely walks through important scenes of the Gospels, pausing with great painters to consider Jesus, how he looks, how he stands or sits, how he interacts with other figures and the viewer, how his actions and teachings are interpreted and translated by artists more concerned with design than analysis, more in forms than words. Painters and their paintings are the guides—beguiling, challenging, consoling, instructive—displaying colors, skill, and perspective while beckoning the viewer back to scripture and to the Jesus "who accepted to be seen."