How Indian artists envisioned Christ’s birth

This 17th Century painting combines Islamic art with Renaissance art

From the British Library archive A 1630 painting of a Virgin and Child with Islamic art — This 17th Century painting combines Islamic art with Renaissance art

The birth of Jesus Christ – an uncountable event in the Bible – has been the subject of many paintings by Western artists, who often use the concepts of beauty and art prevalent there when depicting the event on canvas.

These books are among the most widely available depictions of Christian art, shaping the world’s view of this biblical event and successfully dissuading non-Western influences from it.

But for many years, Indian artists have been trying to show how they see this event by painting the birth of Jesus and other Christian stories in their style.

Some have done it knowingly, others unknowingly, but the result is the work of giving new life and meaning to the event of the birth of Christ, and Christianity itself.

Here are some of the paintings from Indian history that depict the birth of Jesus from the local area.

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

The missionaries brought sacred texts and European art on Christian subjects that influenced court artists. Akbar and his successors also commissioned many paintings with Christian themes and some court painters began to infuse the paintings with Islamic motifs.

Neha Vermani, a South Asian historian, talks about a painting by Mughal court craftsmen that featured Emperor Jahangir in a nativity scene, which traditionally depicts 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 ‘rulers of the whole world.’ Allowing different religions to exist was very important to how they saw themselves and wanted to be remembered; “says Vermani.

The 18th-century painting below has elements of Mughal art, including elaborate motifs, vibrant colors, nature and decoration.

An 18th Century Mughal painting of the Virgin Mary and child

The Trustees of the British Museum Mary in a blue and purple dress, sitting in a courtyard holding the baby Jesus, surrounded by servants with various plates and bowls. A tree and a house with red and green curtains in the background. A beautiful border of beautiful flowers. — An 18th Century Mughal painting of the Virgin Mary and child

A 1630 painting of the Virgin and Child with Islamic art

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

Jamini Roy, who was born in 1887 in what is now West Bengal in India, is celebrated for creating a popular language by combining Bengali art with Kalighat art – a unique art form that originated near a famous temple in the city of Kolkata. .

Ashish Anand, CEO and general manager of the technology company DAG says that art critic WG Archer once observed that Christ represented a Santhal (Santhals are an Indian ethnic group) figure of Jamini Roy.

“The simplicity of Christ’s life and sacrifice appealed to Roy, which made his paintings on Christian themes as important as those on Hindu mythology, all translated into a modern culture of his own making,” he says.

1950s tempera canvas painting of Madonna and child by Jamini Roy

Image Courtesy: DAG Painting of Mary with baby Jesus by Jamini Roy — 1950s tempera canvas painting of Madonna and child by Jamini Roy

Madonna with Jesus and the Magi by Jamini Roy

Photo Courtesy: DAG Madonna and Jesus and the Magi by Jamini Roy — Madonna with Jesus and the Magi by Jamini Roy

Born in 1902 in the west of Goa, Angelo de Fonseca is known for creating unique Christian icons that married the East and the West with his Goan sensibilities.

In his paintings, Mary is not depicted as a beautiful virgin in a blue dress, but more closely resembles an Indian woman with purple skin, wearing a sari and wearing a mangalsutra (a piece of traditional Indian jewelry worn by married Hindu women. ).

Biblical events appear in local settings and reflect ideas and objects that speak to the people of India.

Through his art, he tried to challenge the narrative of the West as the origin of beauty and art.

“Fonseca wanted to establish Christianity – which is considered a Western religious culture – in the Indian subcontinent. It was from this confusion that his watercolors painted Christianity anew,” Rinald D’Souza, director of the Xavier Center of Historical Research. Goa, he told the BBC.