Red-haired Jesus in W. H. Hunt's paintings

 As you probably know, William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) was a Pre-Raphaelite painter, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he represented Jesus with red hair (Hunt was also a redhead himself).

Self-portrait, 1867

Chronologically, the first painting with a red-haired Jesus is Christ and the Two Marys (oil on canvas, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide). Hunt began this painting aged 20, in 1847, but since he was then an atheist, he felt he could not complete it. He completed it 50 years later, in 1897. The painting shows a risen Christ in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea with two Marys. The Mary in dark green is prostrate, the other Mary, in pale pink, kneeling, hands in prayer. One is Mary Magdalene, the other either Mary Clopas or Mary Salome.

The other painting is The Light of the World. It represents the figure of Jesus preparing to knock on an overgrown and long-unopened door, illustrating Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me". The door in the painting has no handle, and can therefore be opened only from the inside, representing "the obstinately shut mind". The painting was considered by many to be the most important and culturally influential rendering of Christ of its time.

The are actually three versions of this work. The first is an oil on canvas, begun around 1849 or 1850 and completed in 1854. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1854 and is now in the side chapel at Keble College, Oxford.

The Light of the World (Keble College version)

A second, smaller version of the work, painted by Hunt between 1851 and 1856, is on display at Manchester City Art Gallery, England. There are small differences between that and the first version, such as the angle of the gaze, and the drape of the corner of the red cloak. 

The Light of the World (Manchester version)

The fact that, at the time, Keble College charged a fee to view the picture, persuaded Hunt to paint a larger, life-sized, version toward the end of his life. He began it in about 1900 and finished in 1904. Shipowner and social reformer, Charles Booth, purchased the work and it was hung in St Paul's Cathedral, London. This third version diverges more from the original than the second one. 

The Light of the World (St Paul's Cathedral version)

Hunt painted Jesus in two more works, where, however, the hair colour looks more chestnut than red.

One is The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple (1854–1860), which represents the child Jesus debating the interpretation of the scripture with learned rabbis (Luke 2:41). Joseph's beard does have reddish shades, though. In an earlier version of this subject, by Albrecht Durer, Jesus has reddish-blond hair.

The second one is The Shadow of Death (1870 - 1873). It depicts Jesus as a young man prior to his ministry, working as a carpenter. He is shown stretching his arms after sawing wood. The shadow of his outstretched arms falls on a wooden spar on which carpentry tools hang, creating a "shadow of death" prefiguring the crucifixion.