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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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.
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| Sarcophagus with the Good Shepherd Roman, c. 225-275 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
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| 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).
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| Sarcophagus of Livia Primitiva, Central Panel Roman, c. 250 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines |
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| Christ as the Good Shepherd Roman, c. 250-300 Rome, Catacomb of Saint Callixtus |
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| Christ as the Good Shepherd, Roman, 3rd Century Rome, Catacomb of Priscilla |
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Good Shepherd Roman (Syria or Palestine), 3rd c. Jerusalem, Rockefeller Archeological Museum
 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 Image of the Good Shepherd Emerges from the CatacombsMost 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.
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.
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.
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.
Medieval ImagesI 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.
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. |
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| 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.
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| The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep From a Speculum humanae salvationis German, c. 1350-1400 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 3003, fol. 31v |
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| 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. |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep |
From a Speculum humanae salvationis
Czech, c. 1420
Prague, Narodni Muzeum
MS III.B.10, fol. 37v
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep German, c. 1376-1400 Stendal, Evangelical Church of Saint James |
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| The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep German (Middle Rhine), c. 1500 Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud |
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| 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. |
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| Workshop of Maarten de Vos, The Lost Sheep Flemish, c. 1569 Celle, Schlosskapelle |
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| Workshop of Maarten de Vos, The Lost Sheep Shown in Situ Flemish, c. 1569 Celle, Schlosskapelle |
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| 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.
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| The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep German, c. 1390 Söst (DE), Parish Church of Saint Peter |
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| The Good Shepherd Dutch, c. 1550 Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin |
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| 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.
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.
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| Abel Grimmer, The Good Shepherd Flemish, 1611 Private Collection |
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| 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.
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| 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 |
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| Jesus Recounting the Parable of the Good Shepherd From a Missal French (Paris), c. 1350 Oxford, The Bodleian Library MS Douce-313, fol. 21v |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 |
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| Marten van Cleve the Elder, The Good Shepherd Flemish, c. 1550-1580 Private Collection |
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| 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.
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| 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".
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| 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.
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| Bartolome Esteban Murillo Spanish, c. 1660 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Workshop of Murillo, The Good Shepherd Spanish, c. 1660s Boston, Museum of Fine Arts |
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| Bartolome Esteban Murillo, The Good Shepherd Spanish, c. 1675-1692 Frankfurt am Main, The Städel Collection |
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| 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;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.
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
leading the ewes with care." (Isaiah 40:11)
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.
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| Cristobal Garcia Salmeron, The Good Shepherd Spanish, c. 1650-1673 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| 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.
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| Philippe de Champaigne FRanco-Flemish, c. 1660 Mâcon, Musée des Ursulines de |
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| Philippe de Champaigne, The Good Shepherd Franco-Flemish, c. 1664 Magny-les-Hameaux, Musée de Port-Royal des Champs |
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| Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne (nephew of Philippe), The Good Shepherd Franco-Flemish, c. 1670 Lille, Palais de Beaux-Arts |
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| Pedro Ruiz Gonzalez, The Good Shepherd Spanish, 1693 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| 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.
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| The Divine Shepherd Mexican, 18th Century Philadelphia, Museum of Art |
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| 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.
,%20End%20of%20the%2016th-Beginning%20of%20the%2017th%20Century_Vatican%20City,%20Musei%20Vaticani,%20Palazzi%20Apostolici%20Vaticani.jpg) |
| Statuette of the Good Shepherd Indian (Goa), End of the 16th-Beginning of the 17th Century Vatican City, Musei Vaticani, Palazzi Apostolici Vaticani |
,%20c.%20Late%2016th%20Century_London,%20Trustees%20of%20the%20British%20Museum.jpg) |
| 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. |
,%20c.%201650_London,%20Victoria%20and%20Albert%20Museum.jpg) |
| 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. |
,%20c.%201650_London,%20Victoria%20and%20Albert%20Museum.jpg) |
| The Mount of the Good Shepherd Indian (Goa), c. 1650 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
,%20c.%201650_London,%20Victoria%20and%20Albert%20Museum.jpg) |
| 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.
,%20Abbey%20Church%20of%20the%20Assumption%20and%20Saint%20John%20the%20Evangelist.png) |
| 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 |
,%20Church%20of%20Saint%20Sebastian,%20Pulpit.png) |
| Johann Jakob Herkomer the Younger, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep German, 1725 Füssen (DE), Church of Saint Sebastian, Pulpit |
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| Theodoor Vergaegen, The Good Shepherd As Guide Flemish, c. 1736-1741 Mechelen, Sint-Janskerk, Pulpit Base |
,%20Hospital%20Chapel.jpg) |
| The Good Shepherd, The Good Shepherd German, c. 1737 Andernach (DE), Hospital Chapel |
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| 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 |
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| Simon Sorg, The Good Shepherd As Guide German, 1756 Regensburg, Church of the Holy Cross, Pulpit |
,%20Church%20of%20Saints%20Theodore%20and%20Alexander.png) |
| Johann Michael Feichtmayer, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep German, c 1757-1764 Ottobeuren (DE), Church of Saints Theodore and Alexander |
,%20Church%20of%20the%20Assumption,%20Pulpit.png) |
| Johann Michael Fischer, The Good Shepherd As Guide German, 1761 Dillingen (DE), Church of the Assumption, Pulpit |
,%20Chapel%20of%20Saint%20Charles%20Borromeo.jpg) |
| The Good Shepherd As Guide German, c 1763-1765 Meersburg (DE), Chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo |
,%20Church%20of%20the%20Assumption.png) |
| Johann Nepomuk Hofer, The Good Shepherd As Guide German, c. 1764-1770 Marienberg (DE), Church of the Assumption |
,%20Church%20of%20Saint%20Leonard,%20Pulpit.png) |
| Philipp Jakob Rämpl, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep German, 1770 Dietramszell (DE), Church of Saint Leonard, Pulpit |
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| 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.
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| Otto Gebhard, The Good Shepherd Driving Off a Wolf German, 1765 Regensburg, Church of Saint Rupert |
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| Otto Gebhard, The Good Shepherd Resting with the Flock German, 1765 Regensburg, Church of Saint Rupert |
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| Otto Gebhard, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep German, 1765 Regensburg, Church of Saint Rupert |
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| 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.
Dearest God, forbid it not;
Give me, dearest God, a place
In the kingdom of thy grace.
Let me in thine arms be stayed;
Let me lean upon thy breast,—
Lull me, lull me, Lord, to rest.
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.
,%20Museums%20Sheffield.jpg) |
| William Dobson, The Good Shepherd English, 1868 Sheffield (UK), Museums Sheffield |
,%20Lutheran%20Church%20of%20Saint%20Denis%20cropped.jpg) |
| Adolf Kreuzer, The Good Shepherd Swiss, c. 1895 Diessenhofen (CH), Lutheran Church of Saint Denis |
,%20Manchester%20City%20Art%20Galleries.jpg) | |
|
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| Tiffany Studios, Good Shepherd Window American, 1909 New York, New York Historical Society |
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| 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.
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| Ivory Statuette of the Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep German, c. 1820 Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, The Green Vault |
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| Vicente Lopez Portaňa, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep Spanish, c. 1830-1850 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Edward Burne-Jones, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep Design for a Window English, 1857 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
,%20Torre%20Abbey%20Historic%20House%20and%20Gallery.jpg) |
| Frederick Thrupp, The Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep English, c. 1864 Torquay (UK), Torre Abbey Historic House and Gallery |
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| 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.
,%20Zimmerli%20Art%20Museum%20at%20Rutgers%20University_2.jpg) |
| Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Good Shepherd American, c. 1902-1903 New Brunswick (NJ), Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University |
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| 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.
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| 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 |
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| Karl Parsons, Christ the Good Shepherd with the Lost Sheep English, 1913 Ely, Stained Glass Museum |
%20,%20Church%20of%20Saint%20Bernard%20de%20Monthon.jpg) |
| 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)
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| 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.
2. The entire hymn can be found at https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/library/poem/gentle-jesus-meek-and-mild/
© 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
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1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington,
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reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible,
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