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Sunday, April 21, 2024

The Good Shepherd

Jean Colombe, Jesus Recounting the Parable of the Lost Sheep
From a Vita Jesu Chirsti by Ludolph of Saxony
French (Bourges), c. 1475-1500
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 178, fol. 30v

NOTE:  This essay was originally written in 2011 and was updated in 2017 and 2021 with new visual material.  In my review of it this year, I found many more images.  While integrating the new material into the old I realized that the organization of this article also needed serious updating.  Therefore, I have completely revised it and am publishing it as a new article.  

Each year the Gospel for the fourth Sunday of Easter is text extracted from John Chapter 10, no matter which cycle  of readings we are in, hence the name “Good Shepherd Sunday”. This reading for Cycle B which is being read in this year of 2024 is John 10:11-18:

"Jesus said:
"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father."

Owning and caring for sheep is often an anxious affair for the owner and any other shepherd the owner may hire as a substitute.  During lambing season, the flock is particularly vulnerable and is never truly safe whenever they are out in the pastures roaming freely.  The threats are many.  Human thieves may steal sheep.  Wolves and even domestic dogs can attack and kill them.  Large birds of prey may attack and kill lambs and can even kill a defending ewe.  When I was in my 20s I spent considerable time during the summers at my mother's family home in the rural southwest of Ireland.  It was a small farm with a handful of cows and a few calves, but a large number of sheep who grazed on the mountainside that formed part of the property.  My uncle and his faithful border collie spent most of every day walking that mountain, checking on the sheep.  One day we saw him coming down from the mountain with something white draped around his shoulders.  It was a small ewe lamb who bore the marks of an eagle attack.  She had survived because her mother had fought for her, but she was saved only because his mother had given her own life in the struggle.  As she died, her mother fell on top of her, protecting her to the end.  The eagle had its fill of meat and departed, leaving the lamb trapped.  My uncle's dog alerted him to the situation and he was able to free the lamb.  The whole family had a hand in raising her that summer and it remains one of the most shining of my memories.    As the Good Shepherd Christ "will lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:15), as he did on the cross.



The Good Shepherd

The image of the Good Shepherd is one of the earliest Christian images and one of the most popular.

Early Christian images were often symbolic and less specifically set in the “here and now” than later Christian images. Partly this was due to the need to be discreet in a world where Christians were often viewed with suspicion at best and persecuted even to death at worst. The image summoned up by the words of Jesus, may have become so popular in the early Christian world because it blended seamlessly into an already existing world of pagan images of shepherd figures, known as kriophoroi. As such, it could easily escape the notice of the Roman authorities during times of persecution.  Not only did this image seamlessly connect to the pre-Christian world it is also such a perfect image of one aspect of the Good Shepherd that it has remained the dominant image ever since.


Pre-Christian Shepherd Images

Images of a male figure carrying a sheep or calf across his shoulders have a long pre-Christian history.  One of the earliest and most famous is the Archaic Greek statue, known as the Moscophoros, dated to 560 BC, which was part of the original decoration of the Parthenon, prior to its destruction by the Persians in 480 BC.  That early statue shows the figure of a man with a calf draped over his shoulders.  It was commissioned as an offering to the goddess Athena, the deity of the Parthenon.



Moschophoros
Archaic Greek, c. 560 BC
Athens, Acropolis Museum


In later statues the animal draped over the shoulders was most often a sheep, that is a lamb, ewe or ram.



Hermes Kriophoros
Greek, c. Fifth Century BC
Rome, Museo Barracco



Early Christian/Late Antique Images

Usually the Early Christian image of the Good Shepherd took the form of a young, beardless man carrying a sheep or ram across his shoulders and sometimes accompanied by other sheep. Here are some of the images that resulted during the Early Christian period.




The Good Shepherd
Roman, 2nd Century
Rome, Catacomb of Marcellinus and Peter
The location of this painting  the fact that it contains the story of Jonah and the whale, plus the orant figures points pretty decisively to a Christian interpretation of the central image.





Good Shepherd, from the Coemeterium Majus
Roman, 3rd Century
Rome, Coemeterium Majus
This may not be a Christian image.  Since it came from the main cemetery of Rome and not from one of the specifically Christian burial sites, it may be pagan.  However, it is a good example of how ambiguous the image of the "Good Shepherd" was during the years in which the Christian Church was operating virtually in hiding.





Christ the Good Shepherd Under the Guise of Orpheus
Roman, 3rd-4th Century
Rome, Catacomb of Domitilla
We can be more certain of the identification of this image due to its location in a Christian catacomb.  However, there is nothing obviously different from a pagan image of Orpheus, the musician who was renowned for his ability to calm animals with his playing.



That the image of the Good Shepherd was a popular one is testified by the sheer number of early Christian images in all media that were used during the third and fourth centuries, the centuries which saw enormous growth in the Church, sporadic fierce persecution and eventual recognition.




Sarcophagus with the Good Shepherd
Roman, c. 225-275
Paris, Musée du Louvre



Sarcophagus of Livia Primitiva
Roman, c. 250
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines



Even poorer people wanted to identify with the image of the Good Shepherd.  Witness this simple sarcophagus.  The surface is striated with simple s-curves, except for the center which has an etched inscription (see below).  The words read:  "Livia Nicarus made (this) to her sister Livia Primitiva, who lived 24 years and 9 months."  It records a family's grief, but also their hope for the afterlife.  That it is Christian is not in doubt for, in addition to the image of the Good Shepherd and sheep, it also includes the fish (a symbol for Christ) and an anchor (a symbol of faith).


Sarcophagus of Livia Primitiva, Central Panel
Roman, c. 250
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines





Christ as the Good Shepherd
Roman, c. 250-300
Rome, Catacomb of Saint Callixtus





Christ as the Good Shepherd,
Roman, 3rd Century
Rome, Catacomb of Priscilla









Good Shepherd
Roman (Syria or Palestine), 3rd c.
Jerusalem, Rockefeller Archeological Museum




Sarcophagus with the Good Shepherd
Roman, c. 270-300
Vatican, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio-Cristiano







Statuette of the Good Shepherd
Roman (Asia Minor), c. 280-290
Cleveland, Museum of Art






Relief from a Christian Sarcophagus of the Good Shepherd
Roman, c. 300
Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum







Sarcophagus with the Good Shepherd
Roman, c. 270
Rome, Church of Santa Maria Antiqua





Sarcophagus from the Via Salaria 
Roman, c. 350-375
Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio Cristiano







Statuette of a Kriophoros Shepherd
Roman, Beginning of the 4th Century
Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio Cristiano



Glass Chalice with the Good Shepherd
Egyptian (Alexandria), 2nd through 4th Centuries
Zagreb, Muzaj Mimara






Child's Sarcophagus with Good Shepherd
Roman, Beginning of the 4th Century
Vatican, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio-Cristiano





Fragment of a Sarcophagus with the Good Shepherd
Roman, c. 300-325
Vatican, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio-Cristiano






The Good Shepherd
Roman, Late 3rd-Beginning 4th Century
Vatican, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio-Cristiano






Fragment of the Great Pastoral Sarcophagus
Roman, c. 300
Vatican, Vatican Museums, Pio-Cristiano Museum








Fragmentary Child's sarcophagus with Good Shepherd
Roman, End of 3rd-Beginning of 4th Century
Vatican, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio-Cristiano







Good Shepherd
Roman, 4th Century
Rome, Museo Epigrafico




The Good Shepherd
Roman, c. 350-375
Rome, Catacomb of Domitilla



The Image of the Good Shepherd Emerges from the Catacombs


Most of the images we have seen so far were part of the decorations of graves in the Christian catacombs of Rome.  They were only partially secret, but still out of the mainstream of Roman civic life.  However, in 313 the new co-Emperors Constantine and Livinius issued the Edict of Milan, which gave the Christian religion legal recognition and ended the on again/off again persecutions that had been a threat.  Eventually, Constantine himself became a Christian, as did most of his family, and Christianity was eventually declared to be the official religion of the Roman state, replacing the classical paganism of the Greco-Roman gods.

What is now the little church of Santa Costanza was originally built as a mausoleum for Constantine's daughters and we can see that, with the acceptance of Christianity as the religion of the Imperial family, the need for discretion was gone and the true identity of the Good Shepherd could be made known.  In this image Christ is shown in the posture of the lawgiver who presents the New Law to Saints Peter and Paul and as the Good Shepherd, surrounded by His sheep. That indicator of holiness, the halo, has been added around His head.  At His feet is the flowing water of life.


The Good Shepherd Giving the Law to Saints Peter and Paul
Roman, c. 350
Rome, Church of Santa Costanza



Never again would the image of the Good Shepherd bear any ambiguity.  To make the identity of the shepherd even more pointed, images began to appear with the nimbus or halo so that no one could mistake this figure for Orpheus or a simple Kriophoros.



Christ, the Good Shepherd
Late Antique, 425-450
Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
The image of Orpheus, seated amid his flock has been transfigured in  the beautiful mosaic that decorates the interior of the fifth-century tomb of Galla Placidia, a Roman woman who had played a significant role in the history of the western Empire during the barbarian invasions.  There is absolutely no doubt about the identity of the Shepherd who is crowned with the sign of holiness, the nimbus or halo, and leans on His staff, the sign of the Cross.  This is the Shepherd who not only tends the sheep with love, but who has sacrificed Himself for their sake.





Part of the job of a shepherd is to protect the sheep in His care.  And this may mean separating them from their competitors, the goats.  In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says that, at the end of time, the faithful sheep will be separated from the unfaithful goats.  The sheep will inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God, while the goats will be sent into eternal punishment for the sins they have committed.



Christ Separating the Sheep and the Goats
Byzantine, 6th Century
Ravenna, Church of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo



The motif of the Good Shepherd and his sheep became a popular one for the decoration of churches during the late antique/early Byzantine period of the fifth and sixth centuries.  



Apse Decoration
Late Antique/Early Byzantine, 6th Century
Ravenna, Church of Sant'Apollinare in Classe




Apse Decoration
Late Antique, c. 526-560
Rome, Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damian






Medieval Images

I was unable to find images of the Good Shepherd from the centuries between the sixth and the eleventh.  This was the time period of the barbarian invasions which resulted in the disintegration of the Roman Empire in Western Europe and the beginnings of the smaller kingdoms that eventually grew into the nations we know today.  That there are few visual  remains is not too surprising as these were centuries in which there was great political instability, looting and upheaval, even as the new arrivals settled down into a newly divided Europe.  Such conditions were unlikely to foster a great deal of art or to preserve what was created.  However, there were periods, such as the time of the Carolingian Empire in the ninth century and the Ottonian Empire in the tenth and eleventh, when such images were produced.  



The Good Shepherd
From the Book of Pericopes of Saint Erentrud
Austrian (Salzburg), c. 1050
Munich, Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek
MS Clm 15903, Image  107





When we are really able to pick up the story again, we find ourselves in the Romanesque period, with a capital from the church of Santa Maria la Nuova at Monreale in Sicily.  At this time Sicily was under the control of the Norman dynasty that had ended the Arab occupation of the island in late eleventh century.  Sicily is at a crossroads of travel and commerce in the Mediterranean, heir to the classical past as well as to North African and Byzantine influences.  And, in this capital, we can see a return to the traditional form of the kriophoroi, the figure carrying a sheep across His shoulders.




The Good Shepherd Capital
Italian, c. 1174-1189
Monreale, Santa Maria la Nuova




From the medieval period onward, images of the Good Shepherd tended to fall into specific motifs.  Among these are the Shepherd searching for the lost sheep, the Shepherd as defender of the flock, the Shepherd as guide.  We will look at each of these motifs below.


The Motifs of Good Shepherd Iconography


The Shepherd in Search of the Lost Sheep
This became the dominant form of the Good Shepherd image for the next seven hundred years.  These images should mostly be read as relating to the parable of the lost sheep found in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 15:4-7):
"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance."

Many of them come from popular books, intended for the lay audience, such as the Speculum humanae salvationis.   Most of the images depict the Good Shepherd, carrying the lost sheep on his back, being greeted with joyful angels, rejoicing over the return of the lost one.




The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
German, c. 1350-1400
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
MS Clm 3003, fol. 31v





The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
Italian (Bologna), c. 1350-1400
Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Arsenal 593, fol. 27v
Here Christ bears the lost sheep on His shoulders and is welcomed by two smiling angels who are
"rejoicing in heaven".  Perspective is still a bit of a problem for the artist so he shows one angel's 
wings pointing up and the other's pointing down.





The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
French (Alsace), c. 1370-1380
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 511, fol. 34r





The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
Swiss (Basle), 15th Century
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 512,  fol. 35r




The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
Unknown origin, c. 1400-1450
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9585, fol. 39r





The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
Czech, c. 1420
Prague, Narodni Muzeum
MS III.B.10, fol. 37v





Masters of the Gold Scrolls, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
French, c. 1450
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 188, fol. 38r






Circle of the Master of James IV of Scotland, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
Flemish, c. 1500
Chantilly, Musée Condé
MS 139, fol.35r




Apart from the illustrations of the Speculum humanae salvationis, the image of the Good Shepherd in search of the lost sheep appears in other media as well.



The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German, c. 1376-1400
Stendal, Evangelical Church of Saint James





The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German (Middle Rhine), c. 1500
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud







The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
Dutch, c. 1540
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin
In this image, the theme of the lost sheep, draped over the shoulders of the Good Shepherd, is augmented by including the scene of the Crucifixion in which the Good Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep.





Workshop of Maarten de Vos, The Lost Sheep
Flemish, c. 1569
Celle, Schlosskapelle





Workshop of Maarten de Vos, The Lost Sheep Shown in Situ
Flemish, c. 1569
Celle, Schlosskapelle





Theodor de Bry, Ego Sum Pastor Bonus
From Grotisch für alle Kunstler
Flemish, c. 1580-1600
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Below the figure are the Latin words "Ego sum pastor bonus", "I am the Good Shepherd".






The Sacrificial Shepherd

Some images of the lost sheep motif offer us something more.  They go beyond the immediately imagined Biblical description of the Good Shepherd and the lost sheep and take us into the depths of God's love.  

In these lost sheep images Christ appears, not only carrying his staff, with the sheep draped over his shoulders, but with the crown of thorns on his head.  This is a reminder of the sacrifice of his human life on Calvary, the price he was willing to pay to rescue the lost sheep of his flock.

The images of the Sacrificial Shepherd seem to have been a specialty of artists from the northern tier of European countries, from Germany and the Low Countries.  While it was probably never as popular as the more general images of the Good Shepherd, it was not an image confined to one country or to one century only.


The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German, c. 1390
Söst (DE), Parish Church of Saint Peter






The Good Shepherd
Dutch, c. 1550
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin






Christ on the Cross as the Good Shepherd
German, c. 1550-1565
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum1
This unusual image makes the relationship between the Good Shepherd and the sacrifice of Christ crystal clear.  The crucified Good Shepherd hangs on the cross above the sheepfold with his sheep, while the lost lamb is draped across his shoulders.






Hieronymous Wierix, The Good Shepherd and the Lost Sheep
Flemish, c. 1572-1619
Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de Espana
CC BY-NC-SA.
The Biblical quotation below the image reads "Congratulamini mihi, quia inveni ovem meam, quæ perierat" or " ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ (Luke 15:6)   The crown of thorns and the marks of the nails in his hands and feet demonstrate the means by which the Good Shepherd provided for his flock. Wierix frequently worked as a designer and engraver of Catholic works, so this was, presumably, created for a Catholic audience.  






Abraham van Diepenbeeck, Ego Sum Pastor Bonus
Flemish, c. 1674-1680
Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de Espaňa
Again, the Good Shepherd wears the crown of thorns and bears the marks of the nails.







Jan Van Cleef, The Good Shepherd Appearing to an Unidentified Saint
Flemish, c. 1676-1700
Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Belgium - CC BY-NC-SA.







The Good Shepherd and the Lost Sheep
German, 18th Century
Augsburg (DE), Church of Saint Ulrich and Afra








Bust of the Good Shepherd
Flemish, c. 1800-1850
Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Belgium
Europeana.eu-2048001-AP
10038455-65d959183349bcd5becc3704e658213f





Shepherds perform many roles in caring for their sheep.  One might say that they provide services for the flock.  Besides finding lost sheep, they assist at lambing time, guard the flock from predators and make sure that they have sufficient grass and water by leading them to these resources.  



The Shepherd As Leader and Guide

All of these "services" apply to the Good Shepherd as well.  While the motif of the Lost Sheep, carried on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd, is the most common and longest-lived iconographic treatment of the Good Shepherd there are others. Among them are images of the Good Shepherd as leader and guide of His sheep.




The Good Shepherd
From the Sermons of Maurice de Sully
Italian (Milan or Genoa), c.1320-1330
Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 187, fol. 14







Master of the Bible of Jean de Sy, The Lamb of God as the Good Shepherd
From the Roman de la Rose
French (Paris), c. 1375-1385
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 132, fol. 142r
In this unusual image the Good Shepherd is Himself a lamb, the Lamb of God, identified by the halo with a cross and the shepherd's staff. 





Hans Bol, The Heavenly Jerusalem, with Christ as the Good Shepherd
Flemish, 1575
London, The Courtauld Gallery







Marten van Vlackenborch, The Good Shepherd
Dutch, c. 1580-1590
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
I really love this picture for the many sheep-related activities that the earthly shepherds are carrying out in the foreground.  Two women and one man are shown shearing the sheep (removing their wooly fleeces), while others wash them in preparation for shearing, or carry them to the shearers.  In the background a newly shorn sheep looks out on the new grass of a meadow.  Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the pond, the Good Shepherd brings his sheep out of their sheepfold.  At one point in my life I was involved in some of this same activity (see comments above) and I can say with truth that, although most shearing today is done with electric shears (a bit like a large electric razor), hand shears look exactly the same today as they did in the late 16th century.






Abel Grimmer, The Good Shepherd
Flemish, 1611
Private Collection






Cristobal Garcia Salmeron, The Good Shepherd Guiding His Sheep
Spanish, Second Third of the 17th Century
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
Here the Good Shepherd carries the lost sheep over his shoulders, while leading the rest of the flock.




The Good Shepherd as the Defender of His Flock

Perhaps the most important role of the Good Shepherd is that of defender of the flock.  Jesus spoke at length about this as part of the Good Shepherd statement:

"I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  

A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them.  This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.  

I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep."  (John 10:11-15)


Artists depicted these words in different ways, showing Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, proclaiming himself as the Good Shepherd.


Jesus Recounting the Parable of the Good Shepherd
From a Commentary on the Gospels by James le Palmer
English, c. 1350-1400
Oxford, The Bodleian Library
MS Laud-Misc-165, fol-320r





Jesus Recounting the Parable of the Good Shepherd
From a Missal
French (Paris), c. 1350
Oxford, The Bodleian Library
MS Douce-313, fol. 21v






Antonie Wierix after Bernardino Passeri, Parable of the Good Shepherd
Flemish, 1593
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
This engraving depicts Jesus recounting the parable of the Good Shepherd to the Phaarisees, while the Apostles listen.  Mounted on the facade of the building in front of which they stand are three roundels with three scenes from the parable.  The images, identified as items C, D and E in the legend at the bottom of the page, correspond to the words of the Gospel of John.  Some are paraphrases, some are direct quotations.  C Says that "The good shepherd fights bravely with the wolf", D says "A hired man, who is not a shepherd leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf scatters them."  E says "there will be one flock and one shepherd".




Most frequently they depict the Good Shepherd actually fighting off an attack by a wolf or wolves.


Julius Goltzius After Maarten de Vos, Christ the Good Shepherd Defending His Sheep Against Wolves
Dutch, c. 1550
Philadelphia, Museum of Art
The text below the image reads:  "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."




Decades later, a colorized version of this engraving was included in a book of Biblical images.



Julius Goltzius after Maarten de Vos, Christ the Good Shepherd Defending His Sheep Against Wolves
From a Thesaurus Sacrarum
Flemish, 1585
Cambridge (MA), Harvard University Art Museums-Fogg Museum
Gift of Barbara Ketcham Wheaton in mem of Robert Bradford Wheaton





Marten van Cleve the Elder, The Good Shepherd
Flemish, c. 1550-1580
Private Collection






Workshop of Maarten de Vos, The Good Shepherd Protecting the Sheep
Flemish, c. 1569
Celle, Schlosskapelle






Attributed to Jean Limosin, Hand Mirror with the Good Shepherd Fighting a Wolf and Tending Sheep
French, c. 1640-1660
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
The damaged inscription on the bottom begins with a paraphrase of the words of John 10:9.





Allegorical Musings

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were a period in which allegorical images became popular.  Often related to esoteric interpretations of Biblical texts or to current events in the world at the time, some made the image of the Good Shepherd the starting point for their allegory.





Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Engraved by Philips Galle, I Am the Sheepgate
Flemish, c. 1565
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
The enigmatic text translates as " Here the men are safely stationed, succeed under cover;  I am a keeper of sheep, the door is ajar.  Why do you break through the sides, or the top, those wolves?   The tower is the law, which the hireling flees."  The main part of the image shows Christ, as the Good Shepherd, leading his flock out of a barn, while thieves are very busy breaking holes in the walls and roof to get at the sheep inside.  Above the roof we are shown the Good Shepherd fighting the wolf (left) and the hireling shepherd fleeing from the wolf and leaving the flock unprotected (right).  Based on the sixteenth-century date, one might say that this is a reflection on the after effects of the Reformation and of the ongoing wars of religion that convulsed much of Europe during the second half of the the sixteenth century and first half of the seventeenth.
  





Another extremely interesting print by an unknown artist and engraver can be found in the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid.  It was probably the work of a Flemish artist and that is about as much as one can say about its origin.

There is a lot going on in this engraving.  At the center top is a representation of the Fountain of Life, the Fons Vitae, depicted as a Baroque fountain with a central column supported by figures that may represent the virtues and crowned by the dove of the Holy Spirit.  It is identified by the words "Ego sum fons vitae" and the quotation to John 4.  It stands in a circular enclosure, a sheepfold, in which sheep are seen grazing and drinking from it. Outside the fence are landscapes with a mountain on the left and a hunter with dogs pursuing a stag on the right.  Two angels tend the walls of the sheepfold, keeping the sheep inside or helping those that are outside it to come in for safety.  A wolf, identified as "Heresis" ("Heresy") threatens a sheep on the left side.  Christ sits at the entrance of the sheepfold with a sheep on his lap and others around his legs.  He is literally the sheepgate.  At his feet are the words "Ego sum pastor bonus" and the quotation to John 10.   At the lower left a lion is shown attacking a sheep.  The lion is identified as "Diabolus", the Devil.  Below the lion's feet is a quotation from 1 Peter "Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour" (1 Peter 5:4".  On the right side sits a half naked woman holding a flower in her left hand while she reaches out with her right hand toward a curious sheep who appears to be sniffing her.  Behind her on the ground is a skeleton and a sheep who seems to be on fire as it lies on what may be a grill.  Her feet are bare.  Her left foot seems quite normal, but her left foot, shown posed atop a stone, has something of the appearance of a cloven hoof.  She is identified as "Caro" ("Flesh") while the burning sheep is identified as "Mundus" ("the World").  At her feet is a quotation from Romans 8:13 "if you live according to the flesh, you will die".  


The Good Shepherd
First Half of 17th Century
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado



Across the bottom of the image is text that relates and explains the image, according to the letter key given.  A is the fount of life, and the quote is " aqua quam ego dabo ei, fiet in eo fons aquæ salientis in vitam æternam" ("the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”).  Letter B, which is attached to the angel at the left side of the engraving is "Jerusalem quoties volui congregare filios tuos, quemadmodum gallina congregat pullos suos sub alas, et noluisti?" ("Jerusalem how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling!")  Letter C, which does not appear to have an attachment to any part of the image, reads:  "Et qui non congregat mecum, spargit." which is a condensation of Matthew 12:30 ("Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."  Letter D, which also does not appear to be attached to any particular part of the image, reads:  "Et mundus transit, et concupiscentia ejus" which is an incomplete quotation of 1 John 2:17 "Et mundus transit, et concupiscentia ejus: qui autem facit voluntatem Dei manet in æternum"  which is "The world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever."

This one little engraving packs in an entire series of sermons about the meaning of the parable of the Good Shepherd and the way in which the flock should live their lives.  




The Boy Jesus as the Good Shepherd


Serious allegory was ot the only way in which the era looked at the Good Shepherd, however.  During the seventeenth century Bartolome Esteban Murillo re-imagined the image of the Good Shepherd to one in which Jesus appears as a child.  This image, while charming, unfortunately contributed to the gradual "prettification" of the Good Shepherd.  This Good Shepherd may have been sweet to his sheep, but it is a bit hard to see him as a warrior ready to do battle with wolves or thieves.



Bartolome Esteban Murillo
Spanish, c. 1660
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado





Workshop of Murillo, The Good Shepherd
Spanish, c. 1660s
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts




Bartolome Esteban Murillo, The Good Shepherd
Spanish, c. 1675-1692
Frankfurt am Main, The Städel Collection





The Good Shepherd
German, 18th Century
Pielenhofen (DE), Church of the Assumption
The figure at the right wears the habit of a Discalced Carmelite monk.  The staff in his hand indicates that he is an abbot, the shepherd of his monks.  No doubt that he commissioned this picture.




The Sentimental Shepherd

Until the seventeenth century the image of the Good Shepherd was presented as guide, as  defender and as guardian. However, in the second half of the seventeenth century this began to change.

With the arrival of the image of the Child Jesus as the Good Shepherd we have entered the era in which the images used for this parable of Jesus have been softened and "prettified".

The kind of soft-focused treatment found in the Boy Shepherd images of Murillo infiltrated later images of the adult Good Shepherd as, no doubt, did the popularity of the aria "He Shall Feed His Flock Life a Shepherd" from George Freidrich Handel's oratorio "Messiah", which derives from Isaiah, Chapter 40,
"Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
leading the ewes with care."
  (Isaiah 40:11)
But this is only a small part of Isaiah's words.  The whole of that chapter celebrates the awesome power and majesty of the saving God.


Gradually, the image of the Good Shepherd became less focused on the defense of the sheep or on the Shepherd as guide and much more on the aftermath of finding the lost sheep, when the Shepherd returns it to the flock.


Cristobal Garcia Salmeron, The Good Shepherd
Spanish, c. 1650-1673
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
The Shepherd carries a paper with the inscription "Ego sum pastor bonus: et cognosco meas, et cognoscunt me meæ" (John 10:14) or "I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me".  





Cristobal Garcia Salmeron, The Good Shepherd
Spanish, c. 1660-1665
Saint Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum





Such interpretations include the closely related images below by Philippe de Champaigne and his nephew, Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne.


Philippe de Champaigne
FRanco-Flemish, c. 1660
Mâcon, Musée des Ursulines de 



Philippe de Champaigne, The Good Shepherd
Franco-Flemish, c. 1664
Magny-les-Hameaux, Musée de Port-Royal des Champs







Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne (nephew of Philippe), The Good Shepherd
Franco-Flemish, c. 1670
Lille, Palais de Beaux-Arts






Pedro Ruiz Gonzalez, The Good Shepherd
Spanish, 1693
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado





The Good Shepherd
From Prières durant la Messe, a gift from Cardinal Fleury to Queen Maria Leczinska in 1737
French, c. 1700-1737
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS NAL 84, p. 41



The Good Shepherd in the World

The idea and iconography of the Good Shepherd traveled with the European missionaries to lands outside Europe. 


The Divine Shepherd
Mexican, 18th Century
Philadelphia, Museum of Art





Antonio de Torres, Sacred Conversation with the Immaculate Conception and the Divine Shepherd
Mexican, 1719
Los Angeles, Los Angeles Country Museum of Art




Indeed, the Portuguese colony of Goa in India appears to have had a veritable industry of turning out ivory carvings called "The Mount of the Good Shepherd" in which Christ, often depicted as a child, shares a lot with the tradition of Buddha figures.  They include differnet details, with some including images of the apostles, others including a crucifixion scene, some including images of God the Father or the Holy Spirit.  Whatever the details, they all follow on model type.




Statuette of the Good Shepherd
Indian (Goa), End of the 16th-Beginning of the 17th Century
Vatican City, Musei Vaticani, Palazzi Apostolici Vaticani






Good Shepherd carving with the Nativity and Saints
Indian (Goa), c. Late 16th Century
London, Trustees of the British Museum
Something that was at the top of the object is now missing.






he Good Shepherd
Indian (Goa), c. 1650
London, Victoria and Albert Museum
This version includes an image of God the Father as the top level.






The Mount of the Good Shepherd
Indian (Goa), c. 1650
London, Victoria and Albert Museum






The Mount of the Good Shepherd
Indian (Goa), c. 1650
London, Victoria and Albert Museum
The top layer of this image appears to be missing.





The Eighteenth Century in Germany


The image of the Good Shepherd was very popular in eighteenth-century Germany and Austria, with many images being produced, both in the form of painting and it that of sculpture.  Many of these appear to have been used as decorations on pulpits, while others adorned ceilings and walls.   They were drawn from many of the varied Good Shepherd iconographic types we have discussed above.  




Johann Jakob Steinfels, The Good Shepherd Brings Back the Lost Sheep
German, c. 1695-1696
Waldsassen (DE), Abbey Church of the Assumption and Saint John the Evangelist



                                                                       


Johann Jakob Herkomer the Younger, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German, 1725
Füssen (DE), Church of Saint Sebastian, Pulpit





Theodoor Vergaegen, The Good Shepherd As Guide
Flemish, c. 1736-1741
Mechelen, Sint-Janskerk, Pulpit Base






The Good Shepherd, The Good Shepherd
German, c. 1737
Andernach (DE), Hospital Chapel







Thomas Schaidhauf, The Good Shepherd As Guide
German, 1750-1800
Fünerstenfeldbruck, Catholic Parish Church of Saint Bernard, formerly Monastery Church of the Assumption, Ornament on Confessional Box



Simon Sorg, The Good Shepherd As Guide
German, 1756
Regensburg, Church of the Holy Cross, Pulpit


Johann Michael Feichtmayer, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German, c 1757-1764
Ottobeuren (DE), Church of Saints Theodore and Alexander





Johann Michael Fischer, The Good Shepherd As Guide
German, 1761
Dillingen (DE), Church of the Assumption, Pulpit






The Good Shepherd As Guide
German, c 1763-1765
Meersburg (DE), Chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo






Johann Nepomuk Hofer, The Good Shepherd As Guide
German, c. 1764-1770
Marienberg (DE), Church of the Assumption




Philipp Jakob Rämpl, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German, 1770
Dietramszell (DE), Church of Saint Leonard, Pulpit





Friedrich Olivier, The Good Shepherd
German, Late 18th-Early 19th Century
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art




Particularly interesting is a series of grisaille paintings, all of them depicting aspects of the Good Shepherd, that were done for the ceiling of the church of Saint Rupert in the German city of Regensburg around 1765 by the artist Otto Gebhard.




Otto Gebhard, The Good Shepherd Driving Off a Wolf
German, 1765
Regensburg, Church of Saint Rupert




Otto Gebhard, The Good Shepherd Resting with the Flock
German, 1765
Regensburg, Church of Saint Rupert




Otto Gebhard, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German, 1765
Regensburg, Church of Saint Rupert




Otto Gebhard, The Good Shepherd Rescuing the Lost Sheep
German, 1765
Regensburg, Church of Saint Rupert



Nineteenth Century Images of the Good Shepherd


The nineteenth century seems split between serious images of the Good Shepherd, in line with the works of previous centuries, even if expressed in new styles of picture making, and sentimental images with a weakened and "pretty" Jesus, fitting the idea of a "gentle Jesus, meek and mild" that can be found in the famous nineteenth-century hymn written by Charles Wesley:  
"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,

Look upon a little child;

Pity my simplicity,

Suffer me to come to Thee.

Fain I would to thee be brought:

Dearest God, forbid it not;

Give me, dearest God, a place

In the kingdom of thy grace.

Put thy hands upon my head,

Let me in thine arms be stayed;

Let me lean upon thy breast,—

Lull me, lull me, Lord, to rest.

Hold me fast in thy embrace,

Let me see thy smiling face.

Give me, Lord, thy blessing give;

Pray for me, and I shall live." 2


Unfortunately, this soft focused treatment became the dominant one, beginning with the mid-seventeenth century.  So that, by the later part of the nineteenth century, images of the Good Shepherd show Jesus cradling the lamb in His arms, rather than continuing the classic stance of carrying it over the shoulders.  The lamb, now not so much retrieved from being lost, as cuddled because of being weak, becomes little more than a prop and a toy.


Images also became softer and "prettier", so soft and pretty in fact that it is difficult to see in them the Good Shepherd who will defend His sheep by laying down His life for them.





William Dobson, The Good Shepherd
English, 1868
Sheffield (UK), Museums Sheffield





Adolf Kreuzer, The Good Shepherd
Swiss, c. 1895
Diessenhofen (CH), Lutheran Church of Saint Denis






Frederick James Shields, The Good Shepherd
English, c. 1900
Manchester (UK), Manchester Art Gallery





Tiffany Studios, Good Shepherd Window
American, 1909
New York, New York Historical Society





Warner Sallman, The Good Shepherd
American, c. 1946






Some artists did resist this trend, but their efforts were hardly enough to stem the large number of popular pretty images.  But they did maintain the traditions of highlighting other parts of the Good Shepherd's care for his sheep.



Ivory Statuette of the Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German, c. 1820
Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, The Green Vault




Vicente Lopez Portaňa, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
Spanish, c. 1830-1850
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado




Edward Burne-Jones, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
Design for a Window
English, 1857
London, Victoria and Albert Museum





Frederick Thrupp, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
English, c. 1864
Torquay (UK), Torre Abbey Historic House and Gallery





James Tissot, The Lost Sheep
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum




The African-American artist, Henry Ossawa Tanner, turned to the theme several times, focusing on the real, often hard and uncomfortable work of the shepherd.



Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Good Shepherd
American, c. 1902-1903
New Brunswick (NJ), Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University




Henry Ossawa Tanner, Good Shepherd
American, 1930
Unknown location





Twentieth-Century Images


While some twentieth-century artists, such as Warner Sallman, continued to paint a pretty and sentimental Jesus as the Good Shepherd, other twentieth-century artists explored the iconography of the Good Shepherd using various contemporary styles, such as German Expressionism and other styles.  




Christian Rohlfs, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
German, c. 1911_Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Art Museum, The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies





Karl Parsons, Christ the Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep
English, 1913
Ely, Stained Glass Museum





Paul Monnier, Ego Sum Pastor Bonus
Swiss, 1951
Plan-les-Ouates (CH) , Church of Saint Bernard de Monthon




The English artist, Eric Gill, chose to focus on another part of the account of the Good Shepherd from the Gospel of John:  

"I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd." (John 10:16)

Eric Gill, "Et alias oves habeo" ("And I have other sheep")
English, 1926
London, Tate Britain




1.  Van Schaik-Scheers, Karin.  "Een houtsnede met "Christus aan het kruis als Goede Herder" uitgegeven door Peter Warnersz", Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum,  1990, Volume 38, No. 3 (1990), pp. 215-222.  The author discusses this colored woodcut, found glued as a reinforcement between two other pages in an album of prints.  While it bears some resemblance to prints produced in Lutheran circles in Germany she does not believe that it may equally well been produced in a Catholic milieu in the Netherlands.  The meaning of the woodcut, that Christ died on the cross for his lost sheep, is the same for either religion.



© M. Duffy, 2011, revised 2017 with additional revisions 2021, Completely rewritten with much new material 2024

Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

 

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.