St Francis of Assisi

This ivory statuette representing St. Francis of Assisi was made in Goa or perhaps Brazil, in about 1650. Formerly catalogued by Longhurst as Spanish or Spanish-American, the figure was subsequently called Indo-Portuguese (Goan). Goa was the second base in India to be established by the Portuguese, having been conquered by Alfonso de Albuquerque (about 1453-1515) during the reign of Manuel I of Portugal initially in 1510, and then reconquered in 1512. Portugal was interested first and foremost in trade, and the discovery of India was motivated by a desire to dominate trade-routes. But the Christian settlers and missionaries were also keen to convert the native populace to Christianity, and religious images in ivory were commissioned to assist in this. Some were exported to Europe, but others evidently remained and were used for evangelical purposes.