How Indian artists imagined the birth of Christ

This 17th-century painting fuses Islamic motifs with Renaissance-style artwork.

From the British Library archive A 1630 painting of the Virgin and Child with influences from Islamic art. — This 17th-century painting fuses Islamic motifs with Renaissance-style artwork.

The birth of Jesus Christ, a momentous biblical event, has been the subject of many paintings by Western artists, who have often applied the ideas of beauty and creativity that were prevalent there when depicting the event on canvas.

These works are among the most widely available representations of Christian art, shaping the way the world views this biblical event and subliminally stripping those outside the West of influencing it.

But over the centuries, artists in India have tried to express their vision of this event by painting the birth of Jesus and other Christian themes in their own style.

Some have done it consciously, others unconsciously, but the end result is a body of work that breathes new life and meaning into the event of Christ’s birth and into Christianity itself.

Below are some paintings from Indian art history that present the birth of Jesus from a uniquely local perspective.

The Mughal emperor Muhammad Jalaluddin Akbar is credited with introducing Christianity to northern India by inviting Jesuit missionaries to visit his court.

The missionaries brought with them European sacred scriptures and works of art on Christian themes that influenced court painters. Akbar and his successors also commissioned many murals with Christian themes and some court painters began to infuse these paintings with elements of Islamic art.

Neha Vermani, a South Asian historian, discusses a painting by Mughal court artists that featured Emperor Jahangir in the nativity scene, which traditionally features Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus.

“The Mughal rulers saw themselves as ‘just’ rulers, able to maintain harmony and balance in their kingdoms; they were ‘universal rulers’. Allowing different religions to coexist was integral to how they saw themselves and wanted be remembered,” says Ms. Vermani.

The 18th century painting below features stylistic elements typical of Mughal art, including highly stylized figures, vibrant colors, naturalism, and ornamentation.

An 18th century Mughal style painting of the Virgin Mary and child.

The Trustees of the British Museum Mary in blue cloak and mauve dress, sitting on a terrace holding the Baby Jesus, surrounded by attendants holding various bowls and plates. A tree and a building with red and green curtains in the background. Ornate colorful floral border. — An 18th century Mughal style painting of the Virgin Mary and child.

A 1630 painting of the Virgin and Child with influences from Islamic art.

From the British Library archive A 1630 painting of the Virgin and Child. — A 1630 painting of the Virgin and Child with influences from Islamic art.

Born in 1887 in what is now the Indian state of West Bengal, Jamini Roy is famous for creating a unique visual language by bringing together elements of Bengali folk art and Kalighat paintings, a distinctive art form that originated in the vicinity of a famous temple in the city of Calcutta. .

Ashish Anand, managing director and managing director of art firm DAG, says art critic WG Archer once observed that Christ represented a Santhal figure (Santhals are an Indian tribal group) for Jamini Roy.

“The simplicity of Christ’s life and sacrifice appealed to Roy, making his paintings on Christian themes at least as important as those of Hindu mythology, all of them depicted in the popular style of modernism that he made distinctively his own,” he says. .

A 1950s tempera on canvas painting of the Virgin and Child by Jamini Roy

Image courtesy of: DAG A painting of Mary with the baby Jesus by Jamini Roy — A 1950s tempera on canvas painting of the Virgin and Child by Jamini Roy

Madonna with Jesus and the Three Wise Men by Jamini Roy

Image courtesy: DAG Madonna with Jesus and the Three Wise Men by Jamini Roy — Madonna with Jesus and the Three Wise Men by Jamini Roy

Born in 1902 in the western state of Goa, Angelo de Fonseca is credited with creating unique Christian iconography that brought together eastern and western influences with his Goan sensibility.

In her paintings, Mary is not depicted as a beautiful maiden in a blue dress, but rather looks very much like a dark-skinned Indian woman, dressed in a sari and wearing a mangalsutra (a piece of traditional Indian jewelry worn by Hindu women. married). ).

The biblical scenes take place in local settings and feature motifs and elements that speak to an Indian audience.

Through his art, he attempted to counter the narrative that the West is the cradle of beauty and artistic creativity.

“Fonseca wanted to situate Christianity, which has largely been seen as a Western religious tradition, within the Indian subcontinent. It was from this anguish that his watercolors painted Christianity anew,” Rinald D’Souza, director of the Xavier Center of Historical Research, Goa, he told the BBC.