The Shape of Jesus’ Crown of Thorns
Most Christian art depicts Jesus’ Crown of Thorns as a Western style circlet type crown. We learn from several sources, however, the crown forced on Jesus was likely a cap shape and covered His entire head. The Shroud of Turin, for example, shows what appear to be puncture wounds all over Jesus’ head. The 5th Century priest St. Vincent of Lérins wrote that the Crown of Thorns was “in the shape of a pileus, so that it touched and covered His head in every part.” A pileus is a felt cap that covered the entire head. The thorns would have punctured and irritated a network of nerves in the head causing excruciating pain, which would have been majorly exacerbated by the Roman soldiers who were striking the crown with a reed, driving the thorns into these sensitive nerves.