The Mount of the Good Shepherd

This distinctive composition is unique to Goan ivories, and recurs again and again; many examples have survived. The clustered figures, and certain important iconographic types taken from Indian art, such as the fountain, showing the plentiful effusion of nature's blessings, had deep-rooted ritual value, and seem to have been re-applied in a Christian context. The combination of the Christ child in the guise of a shepherd with saints, a fountain, vegetation and animals suggests the richness of the natural world. The seated sleeping Christ child is reminiscent of images of the sleeping Buddha. Ivory carving had a long tradition on the Indian subcontinent, and elaborate works of art were made, particularly as diplomatic gifts, often presented to Western rulers. Most of the ivory would have been exported from Mozambique in East Africa to be carved in Goa by local craftsmen.

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. From the sixteenth century onwards, the four main missionary Orders (Augustinians, Jesuits, Dominicans and Franciscans) built churches and aimed to convert the inhabitants of India. Despite the control of the Church over subject matter, the iconography of Indian art also permeated Christian ivories; the most obvious and at the same time strangest instance of this is the Mount of the Good Shepherd.