CoastieJoe,
Who is to say that Jesus, a Jew, born in the middle east around 0 AD did or didn't look like Kenny Loggins?
Well, logic and genetics would say that it is almost impossible for him to have fair complexion, brown hair and brown (and sometimes blue) eyes.
I'm pretty sure the Bible doesn't give a description of Christ's features, so the common view of what J.C. looks like as reproduced in the painting in the subject (which is a cool, powerful work of art, BTW) is an intrepretation of what Christ could look like and that interpretation has been made to appeal to the people following/admiring the figure. The image interpretation is really no different than the differences various cultures and nationalities give to Santa Claus (St Nick, Father Christmas, ...), some of which are more skinny, some fatter, some older, some younger, longer beard, short beard, bald, not bald, white, black, asian...
Would be interesting to do some research into roughly when that common, western image of Christ was developed. I'd guess around 400 to 600 AD. If I find out more I will report back...
Update: That didn't take long. Directly from Wikipedia, and I find it refreshing when my assumptions and guesses meet the facts:
The image of a fully-bearded Jesus with long hair did not become established until the 6th century in Eastern Christianity, and much later in the West. Earlier images were much more varied. Images of Jesus tend to show ethnic characteristics similar to those of the culture in which the image has been created. Beliefs that certain images are historically authentic, or have acquired an authoritative status from church tradition, remain powerful among some of the faithful, in both Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. The Shroud of Turin is now the best-known example, though the Image of Edessa and the Veil of Veronica were better known in medieval times.
TJR
