Is Jesus ever depicted wearing armour
I know that military Saints ie Saints wearing armour and carrying weapons were/are common in Christian art, is this the case for Jesus too? I've seen him brandishing a sword but I cannot recall him ever being armoured.


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As far as I know only in Byzantine Art. He's often depicted as a Roman emperor alluding to the idea of Christus Victor.
Pedro Paulo Gaião wrote:
As far as I know only in Byzantine Art. He's often depicted as a Roman emperor alluding to the idea of Christus Victor.
do you have any particular examples?
You could try looking for Russian icons as well. There are plenty showing him with a sword and there might be a few of him wearing armour.
:lol: I mainly like western European art, 11th to 16th century, particularly concerning knights and saintly figures, there could have been and I'm sure there is somewhere, but in all the time I have seen art pieces I cant recall a time when I have jesus wearing armor from a western point of view. In terms of saintly "inspired" art thats really a st.michael thing or st.george. Michael usually will either be wearing the Greek/Roman style cuirass armor or typically armor of the time the art was made, george I have usually only seen where armor from the time roughly the art piece was made.
Martin Kallander wrote:
Pedro Paulo Gaião wrote:
As far as I know only in Byzantine Art. He's often depicted as a Roman emperor alluding to the idea of Christus Victor.
do you have any particular examples?


[ Linked Image ]

This is from the Ravenna mosaics.
Yes, aside from the martial saints such as George and Martin of Tours, I think there is something in Revelations about Michael the Archangel battling Satan. So he could be depicted as a knight too.
There are a couple of heraldic depictions of Jesus where he wears a frog-mouth helmet. There are at least two different versions, but they each show him wearing a robe. This suggests to me that the white robe was an important part of the iconography of Jesus, because usually full figure depictions of male figures have them wearing full armour, not just helmet and shield.
Ryan S. wrote:
There are a couple of heraldic depictions of Jesus where he wears a frog-mouth helmet. There are at least two different versions, but they each show him wearing a robe. This suggests to me that the white robe was an important part of the iconography of Jesus, because usually full figure depictions of male figures have them wearing full armour, not just helmet and shield.


You need to know something about background to the iconography here. Jesus as a warrior is often a reference to his appearance leading the heavenly forces in the Book of Revelation. Here, the forces, including Jesus, are wearing white robes. The robe is, therefore, important to the context. Likewise, the reason why Jesus appears elsewhere with a sword is from Revelation also

Quote:
In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.
Revelation 1.16
Quote:
Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
Revelation 19.15

I have no intention in talking about the theology here but some background is helpful in understanding why Jesus may be depicted in certain ways.
Anthony Clipsom wrote:
Ryan S. wrote:
There are a couple of heraldic depictions of Jesus where he wears a frog-mouth helmet. There are at least two different versions, but they each show him wearing a robe. This suggests to me that the white robe was an important part of the iconography of Jesus, because usually full figure depictions of male figures have them wearing full armour, not just helmet and shield.


You need to know something about background to the iconography here. Jesus as a warrior is often a reference to his appearance leading the heavenly forces in the Book of Revelation. Here, the forces, including Jesus, are wearing white robes. The robe is, therefore, important to the context. Likewise, the reason why Jesus appears elsewhere with a sword is from Revelation also

Quote:
In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.
Revelation 1.16
Quote:
Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
Revelation 19.15

I have no intention in talking about the theology here but some background is helpful in understanding why Jesus may be depicted in certain ways.


The context that I am talking about is a roll of arms, here are two examples:
[ Linked Image ]
[ Linked Image ]
Quote:
The context that I am talking about is a roll of arms, here are two examples:


An attempt at Jesus heraldry. A collection of symbolic images associated with Jesus, expressed in heraldic guise - shields, banners, helmet crests. Mostly from the Easter story, though the "Lamb and Flag" is from Revelation. Creating heraldry for historic figures was quite a fashion but I don't think I've seen the heraldry of Jesus before. Interesting.

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