“The Head of Christ”, also called the “Sallman Head”, is a 1940 portrait painting of Jesus of Nazareth by American artist Warner Sallman (1892–1968). As an extraordinarily successful work of Christian popular devotional art, it had been reproduced over half a billion times worldwide by the end of the 20th century. Enlarged copies of the work have been made for churches, and small pocket or wallet-sized prayer cards bearing the image have been mass-produced for private devotional use.

“No one knows Sallman, but they know the ‘Head of Christ,’ ” said LeRoy Carlson, president of the Warner E. Sallman Art Collection. Carlson travels around the country giving presentations on the artist.

Sallman first drew the image in charcoal in 1924 for the cover of the new Mission Covenant youth publication, The Covenant Companion. At the time, he titled it “The Son of Man.” After the drawing gained notice in wider circles, Sallman, who worked as a professional illustrator, painted the oil version in 1940, calling it “Head of Christ.”

It was during World War II that the painting gained international notice. Through the USO, the Salvation Army and YMCA handed out pocket versions of the painting to soldiers as they left to fight in Europe and Asia. By the mid 1940s, prints of the painting were hanging in every room of several hospitals across the country. Another project, “Christ in Every Purse,” which was endorsed by President Eisenhower and Norman Vincent Peale among others, reproduced millions of cards that were shared worldwide.

The image was popular with people across the theological spectrum, from fundamentalist Christians to liberal Methodists. But after the 1950s, critics began to complain that the painting had so influenced culture that many people believe it reflects the “true image” of Christ, and that contributed to the idea of Jesus as a white man.

“For years the church had a large picture of Sallman’s ‘Head of Christ’ in the chancel of our sanctuary,” he wrote. “The other co-pastor and I determined that this rendition of Christ was less appropriate as a worship symbol since our community now was predominantly African-American. We replaced it with a cross, although a depiction of Christ with an African appearance would have been fitting also.

Anderson added, “I believe Sallman would have resonated with that concern. Religious depictions of Christ often reflect the dominant culture of the community or the ethnicity of the artist.”

Despite the controversy, the painting is still one of the best known images of Christ today.