"The Smiling Jesus" by Michael Galovic

For 35 years I've been making traditional icons.  The iconic tradition depicts Christ, Holy Mary or saints in a different way form other religious painting traditions.  Icons deliberately distort the reality of this world; the protagonists of the Christian Drama always look serious, stern, austere, there are no smiles of laughter.  Their tendency is to show the saints as already belonging to another realm, sanctified being and spiritualised forms.  When asked to do an image of Christ for the Laughing Jesus project, it certainly was a challenge.   The image which imposed itself onto my mind was that of Christ's face, the famous icon type called Holy Face Made Without Human Hands or Mandilion.  Also known as the Byzantine Christ type, this icon shows the face of Jesus full of serenity and majesty, without traces of suffering, as known Western stype called Ecce Homo.  I decided to introduce a blissful smile on the face of Jesus, so that we would have serenity, bliss and love combined together.

"The Smiling Jesus" 
Artist:  Michael Galovic  
Oil on white gold on board - 29 cm x 33 cm 
Chittaway Bay, Australia