Jesus is depicted as a Black man in this mural on the dome-like ceiling of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, 2401 S. Wabash Ave.

Jesus is depicted as a Black man in this mural on the dome-like ceiling of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, 2401 S. Wabash Ave.

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

More than a century old, mural portraying Jesus as Black still inspires but needs a touchup

The “Risen Christ Mural” that adorns the ceiling of Quinn A.M.E. Church on the Near South Side was painted by a church member named Proctor Chisholm in 1904.

When abolitionist Frederick Douglass visited Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church to speak in 1893, nearly 1,000 people turned out at the historic Black congregation on the Near South Side to hear him.

“The Black man will be respected nowhere while he is not respected in the United States,” Douglass told the crowd, according to a newspaper account that said his speech was greeted with “the greatest enthusiasm.”

Chicago’s murals and mosaics sidebar

Chicago’s murals & mosaics


Part of a series on public art in the city and suburbs. Know of a mural or mosaic? Tell us where and send a photo to murals@suntimes.com. We might do a story on it.

“Our work,” Douglass said, “is to make ourselves respected.”

Nearly 70 years later, during the Civil Rights Era, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. also took to the pulpit at the church to speak.

Throughout most of that time and still today, there’s been a presence above the church’s altar that also speaks to the plight and salvation of African Americans. It’s a mural depicting Jesus as a Black man.

A mural of Jesus, painted in 1904 by the artist Proctor Chisholm at the Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, 2401 S. Wabash Ave.

A mural of Jesus, painted in 1904 by the artist Proctor Chisholm at the Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, 2401 S. Wabash Ave.

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

Painted in 1904 on the domed ceiling along with other religious figures, the mural remains a source of pride for the roughly 400-person congregation.

Will Miller, 35, serves as Quinn Chapel’s historic preservation chair.

Will Miller, 35, serves as Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church’s historic preservation chair.

Provided

It’s also a rare portrayal of Christ, who typically has been cast as a white man with European features.

“Oftentimes, when you grow up, you think that your set of circumstances are how it is everywhere,” says Will Miller, Quinn Chapel’s historic preservation chairman, who grew up attending services there. “Looking at that image, I thought that every church had images of a Black Jesus, especially Black churches.”

Tyra Owens, 33, a lifelong member of Quinn Chapel, says: “I just remember looking up at that mural during services” as a child “and seeing myself close to God. It really meant a lot to me.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, Sunday services have been held remotely and recorded. Tours are on hold. Even weddings and funerals aren’t allowed.

Tyra Owens, 33, said she’s been a member of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church for nearly her entire life.

Tyra Owens, 33, said she’s been a member of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church for nearly her entire life.

Provided

Now, with age and water damage having taken their toll on the walls and ceiling of the church, Quinn Chapel is trying to determine how to have the mural restored so that it can remain vibrant for another century or more. The church is applying for a federal grant to help cover the cost, estimated at about $150,000. Church officials figure it will be sometime next year, at the earliest, that the work will be completed.

Beyond the mural, the congregation is a part of Chicago history. Now at 2401 S. Wabash Ave., Quinn Chapel was established before the Civil War — in 1844, with seven people meeting at a member’s home. The church was built in 1892, just before Douglass spoke there.

The church was a place of refuge for the Underground Railroad.

A mural depicting Jesus as a Black man and former church members cast as angels decorates the dome-like ceiling of the Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church at 2401 S. Wabash Ave. Water damage is visible on walls throughout the building.

A mural depicting Jesus as a Black man and former church members cast as angels decorates the dome-like ceiling of the Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church at 2401 S. Wabash Ave. Water damage is visible on walls throughout the building.

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

The building was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1977 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking in the 1960s at Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, 2401 S. Wabash Ave.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking in the 1960s at Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, 2401 S. Wabash Ave.

Provided

Other speakers over the years included Presidents William McKinley and William Howard Taft and women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony.

The mural is titled “Risen Christ Mural.” It was painted by Proctor Chisholm, of whom little is know, according to Miller, other than that he was a church member and self-taught artist.

Miller says the images of Mary and the angels in the painting were patterned on women and children in the church and that one of the angels — seen resting her head on the clouds — was modeled on a girl who used to rest her head on a pew.

Though that’s the story told throughout the church’s history, Anna Swartwood House — an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina whose doctorate in art history focused on Renaissance art — immediately recognized the angel’s resemblance to an angel in the “Sistine Madonna” painted by Italian artist Raphael in the 1500s. That famous work features an angel in nearly an identical position as the one in the “Risen Christ Mural.”

Swartwood House was surprised to learn the Quinn mural was painted in 1904 because artwork depicting Jesus as a man with a non-white complexion was uncommon until the 1970s.

Experts say it’s almost certain that Jesus wasn’t the fair-skinned, blue-eyed, wavy brown-haired figure he’s still frequently portrayed as.

Part of the mural at Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church shows Jesus’ mother Mary and angels — said to have been modeled on members of the church at the time the artwork was created in the early 1900s.

Part of the mural at Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church shows Jesus’ mother Mary and angels — said to have been modeled on members of the church at the time the artwork was created in the early 1900s.

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

“He had dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair,” says the Rev. Laura Mayo, a minister in Houston who earned a master’s degree at Wake Forest University’s divinity school and did her graduate thesis on God images and the way people view God. “He was a Middle Eastern Jew. This depiction of Jesus as white is inaccurate, and it distorts our connections to the stories of Jesus and to the stories” of people of color.

Swartwood House says depictions of Jesus as fair-skinned became increasingly popular with European artists in the 14th century. The line of thinking that people were created in God’s image led the white Europeans to model their depictions of Jesus on themselves. And that depiction spread through trade and colonization, she says.

Click on the map below for a selection of Chicago-area murals

The Latest
Busch found an unconventional way to score in the Cubs’ loss to the Rangers.
The acquisition of Tamarack Farms makes Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge a more impactful destination and creates within Hackmatack a major macrosite for conservation.
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”