The image of a “good shepherd” who would lay down his life to save his flock had its origins in Roman art and was adapted early on by Christians. In the 17th century, the figure of a youthful Christ resting his head while surrounded by wooly sheep became a popular subject for Indian ivory carvers working in the Portuguese colony of Goa, where the first Jesuit mission had been established a hundred years before. The diverse population of colonial port cities like Goa encompassed a variety of religious traditions, as did the Holy Land. The art produced in European outposts throughout Asia and the Middle East often reflects cultural crosscurrents and is the product of overlapping religious and artistic traditions.

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