The text below is the excerpt from the book Christ in Art, written by Ernest Renan, published by Parkstone International. Jesus was born in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee, which before him was unknown. All his life he was designated by the name of “Nazarene,” and it is only by an awkward detour that the legend succeeds in fixing his birth at Bethlehem. We shall further on see the motive of this supposition and how it was the necessary consequence of the Messianic character attributed to Jesus. The precise date of his birth is unknown. It occurred under the reign of Augustus, towards the year 750 of Rome, probably sometime in the…