Considering the Roman and Byzantine nobility and rich were mostly clean shaven and saw facial hair as unclean, when and why did biblical religious figures start to be depicted with beards?

by Knightmare25

Christianity for a long time after it was adopted by the Romans as the official religion of Rome was influenced by the rich and nobility, so I was wondering when and why religious figures were depicted with facial hair?

aldusmanutius

The situation is a bit more complicated than Christianity being "influenced by the rich and nobility". The adoption of Christianity as the state religion certainly had an impact on certain elements of its iconography (and all areas), but the sources of influence, borrowings, etc., were always varied. I touch on some of the aspects behind the portrayal of bearded (AND beardless) Christ in a post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8dcdoc/why_does_nearly_every_form_of_art_depict_jesus_as/dxmsucd