Ivory plaque in low relief with delicate carving in “maneirismo” style. Rectangular in shape, it depicts a theme of the Bible, Virgin Mary and baby Jesus with S. José in the Flight to Egypt. The holy Mother is breastfeeding Jesus under exotic scenery with tall palm tree, crossing the desert. Partially painted, the plaque is in ebonized frame set with inlaid ivory. The frame is decorated with flowering plants, leaves, butterflies and birds setting in a symmetrical way. Two querubins shows the crown of the future King Jesus Crist.

Probably this plaque was originally from the 16th century, when by the order of the Jesuit missionaries, they were made by the hundreds. Easy to handle they were used to catechize and to fill in portable oratories or altarpieces.

Is notorious the acute sense of detail in the rendering of the subject. Based upon European prints of famous Italian artists, this particularly one was inspired in a painting of Federico Zuccaro, a painter at the service of Pope Júlio III and Pope Paulo IV, in the 16th century.

This carved ivory image is an excellent and increasingly scarce reminder of India’s complex, mixed heritage but also of a time when Portugal was a great seafaring and trading nation – a reminder that globalization is hardly a new concept.