Menino Jesus Bom Pastor

The Child Jesus as The Good Shepherd
Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), probably Colombo; ca. 1580-1620
Ivory, evidence of polychrome and gilt decoration
Dim: 10.1 x 4.7 x 3.7 cm

Menino Jesus Bom Pastor
Ceilão (actual Sri Lanka), provavelmente Colombo; ca. 1580-1620
Marfim, vestígios de policromia e douramento
Dim: 10,1 x 4,7 x 3,7 cm

Coupled with carved ivories alluding to the Passion of Christ, the vast majority of devotional sculptures produced in Portuguese ruled Ceylon, portray the Virgin Mary .
Combining the Life of The Virgin with the Life of Christ, an important group refers to Christ’s childhood, the most widespread iconography amongst these being that of the hybrid and proselyte Salvator Mundi. Although rare, when compared with the subsequent Indian production, some figures of The Good Shepherd were also carved.
Such imagery, unique to southern Asia, seems to have occurred in late 16th century Ceylon, from where it later expanded to Portuguese ruled India . In this production the infant Jesus appears as a dormant shepherd, thereupon having recovered his lost sheep, and generally with one of those sheep resting on His lap and another over His shoulder, an iconography that corresponds to the first of the three Parables of Mercy (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:3-7). The dormant Child rests His head on His right-hand palm, seating cross legged on a heart pierced by arrows and raised on a stepped socle.
Carved in exceptional detail, the herein described Good Shepherd is a splendid example of such iconography. The Child’s gracious figure, of golden and curly hair strands and almond shaped and half-shut eyes, recalling the devotional Buddha imagery of indigenous production, rests His head on a right hand of long, and meticulously carved fingers, that do equally evoke an ancient sculptural Buddhist tradition.
The figure is attired in knee length shepherd’s tunic of turned collar, the wool texture conveyed in granules, tied at the front by a belt from which hangs a gourd, and sandals. With His left hand He pets a sheep, crouched on His knee. Missing is the pierced heart that was present in early examples of this iconography, and the stepped stand typical of this production.
In another extant Ceylonese example, the Child holds a shepherd’s staff between the crook of the elbow and the sheep . The loss of such common elements in Ceylon made images, results from the fineness and fragility of this composition, both details that may have imposed the advent of the new interpretation that became prevalent in Portuguese India, in which the Good Shepherd raises on top of a stepped rocky hill filled with sheep, and fountains with birds, joined by various other figures, animals and plants.
Comparable sculptural compositions are extremely rare. One, fully complete and with its original bright coloured polychrome decoration, belongs to a Portuguese private collection .

Hugo Miguel Crespo
Centre for History, University of Lisbon

Bibliography:

Hugo Miguel Crespo, “The ‘Pangolin Fan’ and the Ceylonese Ivory Carving Tradition”, in Hugo Miguel Crespo, Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, The “Pangolin Fan”. An Imperial Ivory Fan from Ceylon. Artistic Confluence and Global Gift Exchange between Sri Lanka and Renaissance Portugal, Buenos Aires, Jaime Eguiguren Art & Antiques, 2022, pp. 109-219

Francesco Gusella, “New Jesuit Sources on the Iconography of the Good Shepherd Rockery from Portuguese India: the Garden of Shepherds of Miguel de Almeida (1658)”, Journal of Jesuit Studies 6 (2019) pp. 577-597

Cristina Osswald, “God Bless Port Cities! The Ivory Sculpture of the Good Shepherd between East and West”, in Amélia Polónia, Cátia Antunes (eds.), Seaports in the First Global Ages. Portuguese Agents, Networks and Interactions, Porto, U. Porto Press, 2016, pp. 347-364

Bernardo Ferrão de Tavares e Távora, Imaginária Luso-Oriental, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 1983

--

A par dos marfins entalhados referentes à Paixão de Cristo, as mais abundantes esculturas devocionais produzidas no Ceilão sob domínio português representam Nossa Senhora. Combinando a Vida da Virgem com a de Cristo, um importante grupo refere-se à Infância de Cristo, sendo as mais frequentemente encontradas as do cruzado e prosélito Salvador do Mundo (Salvator Mundi).
Raras, quando comparadas com as de ulterior fabrico indiano, produziram-se também algumas estatuetas do Menino Jesus Bom Pastor. Esta iconografia única à Ásia do Sul, parece ter surgido no Ceilão nos finais do século XVI, de onde se difundiu para a Índia portuguesa. O Menino Jesus surge como pastor adormecido, após ter recuperado as suas ovelhas perdidas, em geral com uma descansando no colo e a outra sentada no ombro. Esta representação corresponde à primeira das três parábolas de misericórdia (Mateus 18:12-14; Lucas 15:3-7). Nas esculturas de origem cingalesa o Menino, dormindo, apoia a cabeça na palma direita, sentado de pernas cruzadas no topo de um coração trespassado por setas e elevado sobre uma base escalonada.
Minuciosamente entalhado, este pequeno Menino Jesus Bom Pastor, é um belo exemplo desta iconografia. A graciosa figura do Menino, com suas mechas douradas e encaracoladas e olhos amendoados semicerrados, lembrando as imagens devocionais de Buda produzidas na ilha, apoia suavemente a cabeça na mão direita. Os dedos longos e meticulosamente esculpidos evocam, também, uma tradição secular de escultura budista. Veste túnica de pastor até aos joelhos, com a lã em forma de grânulos, gola virada e cinto atado à frente e onde pende uma cabaça para água, calçando sandálias. Acaricia com a mão esquerda uma ovelha, agachada sobre o joelho. Estão ausentes o coração trespassado típico dos primeiros exemplares desta iconografia e a base escalonada típica desta produção.
Num exemplar também cingalês, o Menino segura um cajado de pastor, entre o interior do cotovelo e a ovelha. A perda destes elementos, comuns nas imagens do Ceilão, resultará da delicadeza e fragilidade desta disposição, o que pode ter ditado o surgimento de um novo tipo prevalente na Índia portuguesa, onde o Bom Pastor se eleva no topo de um monte rochoso em socalcos, plenos de ovelhas e fontes com pássaros, junto com diversas outras figuras, animais e plantas.
Peças comparáveis são extremamente raras. Uma, completa e com sua policromia original de cores vivas, pertence a uma colecção particular portuguesa.

Hugo Miguel Crespo
Centro de História, Universidade de Lisboa

Bibliografia:

Hugo Miguel Crespo, “The ‘Pangolin Fan’ and the Ceylonese Ivory Carving Tradition”, in Hugo Miguel Crespo, Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, The “Pangolin Fan”. An Imperial Ivory Fan from Ceylon. Artistic Confluence and Global Gift Exchange between Sri Lanka and Renaissance Portugal, Buenos Aires, Jaime Eguiguren Art & Antiques, 2022, pp. 109-219

Francesco Gusella, “New Jesuit Sources on the Iconography of the Good Shepherd Rockery from Portuguese India: the Garden of Shepherds of Miguel de Almeida (1658)”, Journal of Jesuit Studies 6 (2019) pp. 577-597

Cristina Osswald, “God Bless Port Cities! The Ivory Sculpture of the Good Shepherd between East and West”, in Amélia Polónia, Cátia Antunes (eds.), Seaports in the First Global Ages. Portuguese Agents, Networks and Interactions, Porto, U. Porto Press, 2016, pp. 347-364

Bernardo Ferrão de Tavares e Távora, Imaginária Luso-Oriental, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 1983