Description
Rock crystal figures of the Christ Child are among the rarest of luxury items to have been made for the Portuguese in India and Sri Lanka. This sculpture was likely once adorned with a golden crown inlaid with jewels and would have been elevated on an equally elaborate pedestal. Though the subject was introduced by Christian missionaries, the figures were sculpted by local artists. The large eyes, frontal posture, and soft, fleshy limbs resemble features seen in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain devotional images. This devotional image was produced in the Portuguese colony of Goa, a Jesuit training center for missionaries on India’s western coast.
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