6 of the Oldest Images of Our Lord Jesus Christ
1) Alexamenos graffito – 1st to 3rd century
![](https://www.thecatholicherald.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/1j.jpg)
Is this a depiction (albeit, a mocking one) of Jesus – perhaps even the oldest surviving image of Jesus?
The image is carved in plaster on a wall in Rome and is dated to somewhere between the 1st and 3rd centuries. It depicts a man looking at a person with the head of a donkey that’s being crucified, and it says, “Alexamenos worshipping God.” It’s believed that this was intended to be mocking the faith of a Christian named Alexamenos.
2) The Good Shepherd – 3rd century
![The Good Shepherd – 3rd century](https://www.thecatholicherald.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2j.jpg)
“The Good Shepherd” image is found in the St. Callisto catacomb in Rome and is believed to have been painted around the 3rd century.
3) Adoration of the Magi – 3rd century
![](https://www.thecatholicherald.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/3j.jpg)
This is a picture of a cast of a sarcophagus that is in the Vatican museums. It shows the scene of the magi adoring the Christ child and is dated to the 3rd century.
4) Healing of the Paralytic – 3rd century
![Healing of the Paralytic – 3rd century](https://www.thecatholicherald.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/4j.jpg)
This painting is on the wall of the baptistry of a church in a (long abandoned) ancient city in Syria. It depicts the story of the healing of the paralytic found in Mark 2, and it is dated to the mid-3rd century.
5) Christ Between Peter and Paul, 4th century
![](https://www.thecatholicherald.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/5j.jpg)
Image detail of Jesus:
![](https://www.thecatholicherald.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/5a.jpg)
This appears in a cemetery in an imperial villa that belonged to Constantine and is dated to the 4th century.
6) Pantokrator – 6th century
![](https://www.thecatholicherald.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/6-530x1024.jpg)
This is the oldest surviving panel icon of Jesus, and it is found at Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai.