During the period of the Roman persecution of Christians, Christians borrowed pagan imagery to represent Christ. A good example is Hermes Kriophoros, Hermes carrying a ram, which in the hands of early Christian artists became Christ the Good Shepherd. In paintings, such as this in the Catacombs of Rome, the image of Christ is based on pagan representations of Hermes. These transpositions of pagan imagery formed the basis for subsequent images of Christ. So they are actually based on representations of pagan deities rather than living figures, Jewish or otherwise.

All of this raises larger questions about race, ethnicity and skin colour. Race and/or ethnicity are rarely--let alone in late antique painting--clearly legible on the basis of representations of skin colour. Is the Christ in the Catacombs of Rome "white"? "Nicely tanned"? "Olive skinned"? Somehow visibly Jewish? Something else altogether? I think the question is nearly impossible to answer.