Nevertheless, he can be recognized by his halo and the wound painters on his feet and hands.
The actual Brisante of William Hart McNichol's painting is not the representation of Christ.
It is the people who are depicted around him: two same-sex couples sit embracing next to Jesus.
Together, all five people look at the action that gives its name to the painting "The Footwashing": Pope Francis, who washes and kisses Jesus' feet dressed in a simple epage.
McNichols created the work for the "outreach" conference at the Jesuit-led Georgetown University in Washington.
At the conference, queer people who are connected with the Catholic Church meet.
Pope Francis also regularly addresses a greeting to the meeting. Thus he assured the participants his spiritual closeness this year and wrote that he was connected to those present in prayer. The conference is organized by "Outreach", a Internet portal for LGBTQ Catholics founded by the US Jesuit James Martin 2022.
Francis' commitment to the LGBTQ community is known
In an article on the "Outreach" platform, Martin himself writes about the picture and explains the background for the scene shown.
During his pontificate, Francis washed the feet of a large number of people, such as women, refugees, prisoners or Muslims, during his pontificate.
"These gestures were widely seen as part of Pope Francis' efforts to approach those who are on the margins of society and the Church," writes Martin. "And of course, Francis is well known for the LGBTQ community."
McNichols himself goes in a similar direction in a reflection of his painting at the end of Martin's article. If he is ask him after a picture that the pontificate of Pope Francis symbolises, he immediately think of the washing of the feet.
The idea of representing the protagonists of the picture in heaven had come to him during a penitive service in the church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the 75-year-old priest and artist helps out in pastoral care.
"This painting is set in the cosmos because the acceptance of LGBTQ people in the present and in the future remains something that is yet to come," says McNichols.
And he knows what he is talking about: From 1983 to 1990, McNichols worked as a pastor in the AIDS hospice team in New York and spoke in numerous TV interviews about the AIDS pandemic. During this time he also made his own homosexuality public.
At some point, McNichols burdened the stress of this pastoral work so much that he withdrew more and more and dedicated himself to art. He learned about the history, spirituality and technique of Orthodox icon painting and created numerous works hanging in churches, universities or even the Vatican Museums worldwide.
The renowned Time magazine even slighted McNichols as "one of the most famous creators of Christian icons in the world".
Today, McNichols distributes printing of his work through his own website. Many of his works of art can also be ordered there as bags, cushions, mobile phone cases, T-shirts or coffee cups.
In addition to more or less classic icons of Jesus, Mary or the Holy Family and other well-known saints, there are also surprising things to find in the shop – under the name "Holy New Martyr Alexei Navalny", for example, an image of the recently deceased Russian regime critic Alexei Nawalny or a representation by Alana Chen with the Mater Dolorosa. Chen spoke to his life in 2019 at the age of 24 after she had told a priest in confession about her love for women and was forced to carry out conversion therapy.
"The Footwashing" can also be found on the website. The original painting now hangs in the headquarters of the Jesuit Media House "America Media" in New York, which also includes "Outreach".
When the McNichol's picture and the texts of him and James Martin published, the platform published history, traditionalist totreme-right media.
"Sky priest-painter designs new icon for LGBT event by Father James Martin " or "Father James Martin's LGBT meetings, chaired by the disrespectful 'icon' of a gay priest," were the titles.
McNichols takes this calmly: "As a painter, I always count with something negative, no matter what the topic is," he says katholisch.de. He is inclined to listen to the negative. Since his 75th.
However, his birthday in July learned to pay more attention to the positive feedback that would be much more common, according to McNichols.
James Martin is similar.
"When we exhibited the picture at our outreach conference, everyone who talked to me about they loved it," said the Jesuit to katholisch.de.
McNichols also took up the work in his speech, which was about his journey as a priest and artist.
Treating LGBTQ people like humans
McNichols still takes a critical view of the way the Church and society with homosexual people are still today.
"The conversation about LGBTQ people is always, always, always sexualized," he complains. Nobody think of the many tender forms of expression that would be banned from these people. "When I celebrate Mass, there are married and unmarried couples who go to communion and hold their hands", says the priest.
The two pairs in "The Footwashing" also show these tender affections: One of the partners embraces the other and gently puts one hand on the shoulder. Together, the couples look at Francis, who kisses Jesus' feet.
The queer people work intimately connected in this way and are at the same time an important part of the scene, since they sit side by side with the responsible Christ.
The creator of the painting still wants the future: "I hope that LGBTQ people will be treated like humans and not like aliens or things." This already seems to be the case in his painting.