Akiane Kramarik is a self-taught painter and says that Jesus spoke to her when she was four years old, encouraging her to draw and paint what she experienced.

At age eight, after seeking the right face to help her paint an image from her dreams and visions, a family friend brought to her a carpenter as a possible subject. The man’s face closely resembled what Kramarik remembered as the face of Jesus. She completed the portrait in 40 hours of intensive work.

Not long after, it was shipped to her agent for exhibition, who then stole it and sold it without permission. For sixteen years the original painting was held locked in a bank vault, with the then-owner unwilling either to show or to sell it. In December 2019, Prince of Peace was recovered by the artist’s family and sold to a private collector for $850,000. After twenty years, the original is available for public viewing at Beloved Gallery in Marble Falls, Texas. 

At the age of four, Colton Burpo, whose story was featured in the best-selling book Heaven Is for Real and the film adaptation of the same name, underwent a critical operation after his appendix burst. Although it was not a near-death experience (his heart never stopped), he did say he had an experience of visiting Heaven and had visions of Jesus. Years later, when he saw Kramarik’s Prince of Peace on TV, he told his father “Dad, that one’s right.”

Akiane Kramarik has a gallery and the copies of the picture are for sale.