Easter is not often compatible with toy soldiers as toy soldiers are often about (you guessed it) soldiers. Nonetheless, King and Country managed to produce a collection called Life of Jesus with many different versions of Jesus. Like Easter is pretty soon, it would be a perfect timing to look at the LoJ051 - Jesus & The Blindman.

The collection Life of Jesus is one of the most fascinating ones within King and Country. It’s an interesting mix of religious beliefs and historical events. The collection started with a nativity scene to put under the Christmas Tree and quickly expanded to the Roman occupation of Judea. So this makes this collection very appealing as much for religious people than for collectors interested in the history of Western Asia.

Some of the old and recent figures from the Life of Jesus collection by King and Country.

When it comes to designing the look of pieces, many of them are based on archeological finds and are quite accurate. However, the look of Jesus is more challenging as the Bible is not telling much about it. The only clue given about his look is that he was looking so generic that Judas had to give him a kiss so that the Romans would know who to arrest. This suggests that he probably had dark curly hair, a light brown skin tone and wore extremely average clothing. So nothing visually would make him stand out.

When landsknechts are tasked to arrest Jesus, it becomes clear that no looks are historical. Yet, it’s easy to guess who Jesus is only thanks to the kissing clue.
Arrest of the Christ by Hans Baldung Grien, circa 1518/1520.

The Bible might not tell much on that subject, but there is one other kind of source to look at for his look. There are few relics claiming to be the robe that Jesus wore just before being crucified. Those could give an idea of his clothes, but it’s impossible to prove that any of those garments are genuine. So no safe conclusion is available from those and they stay in the realm of faith and personal beliefs.

One of the Holy Robes of Jesus exposed in 2012.

Despite the incertitude about the true origins of those robes, they have their place here as they helped to forge an image of the Christ that people can recognize. After all, making a Jesus figure can also be more about creating something that people can identify than aiming for historical accuracy. This approach makes even more sense as it is also argued that Jesus might not even have existed at all and so no ultimate answer would exist to this toy soldier quest.

With that in mind, my personal favorite figure of Jesus by King and Country is the one from the LoJ051 - Jesus & The Blindman set. The skin and hair colors are representative of this part of the world and his clothes are just generic enough to mix in the crowd. He is also the only adult version of Jesus by King and Country with covered hair. Like most of the men in this collection have headwears, this makes him even more generic looking as the Bible seems to suggest. The touch of yellow on his outfits also makes a connection with the gold often used in the iconography of this character. However, it is his attitude that makes him stand out, standing tall and calm while performing a miracle on a blind man. The blind man that comes with him is poor, dressed with rags and has his eyes closed. The two figures are designed to interact together, but it’s also possible to use them separately. The blind man looks quite convincing as a blind beggar on his own and Jesus, with his hand extended, looks like preaching to a crowd.

Jesus and the blindman.

To conclude, the perfect historical look of Jesus is impossible to guess with the actual knowledge available. So the only option is to go with a look that people can identify as Jesus and related too. This can change from one person to another, but for me, the LoJ051 - Jesus & The Blindman is my favorite version so far by King and Country. I now leave you with a trailer of my favorite Easter movie: Jesus Chirst Superstar. In this musical film, Jesus is blond, hippies are dancing everywhere, tanks are rolling in the desert and Romans are armed with uzis. Yet, we can recognize the characters and the story is the same as in the Bible.