Abstract：Religion and art are closely related with each other. The image of Jesus Christ goes through several stages in the progress of western art: from the symbol to convey meanings and tell biblical stories to the spokesman of Christianity; then from the glorious image which is full of humanity to the constitution of subversion and transcendence. It develops with the social and ideological trend, and also with the spirit of art which changes from holiness to the world, then from the world to the ideal of human being. In this essay the author divides the image of Jesus Christ into several chapters according to the important stages in the development of art history, and tries to study it inter- textually in art, religion and culture.

Keyword：image of Jesus Christ;art history;religious culture;social spirit;