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The Christ Child as Saviour of the World

Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka)
2nd half of the 16th century
Carved ivory
41 x 10.5 cm

A very rare and unusually large figure of The Christ Child as Saviour of the World (Salvator Mundi) delicately carved in elephant ivory, standing over a turned pedestal typical of contemporary Buddhist and Hindu “idols”, all carved from a single tusk. Somewhat hieratic in character, the Child makes the sign of blessing with his right hand, and would originally grasp with his left a silver or gold crucifer banner. Buddhist elements are evident in the trivalī marks of mahāpuruṣa or “great man” – the three incised lines on the neck, which are distinguishing marks of the Buddha –, and the curly hair, alongside the typical depiction of the eyes, indicating inward contemplation (dhyāna), the oval face, rounded cheeks, small lips and sharp nose. It belongs to a rare group of sandaled figures of the Saviour of the World dressed in a long tunic and scapular, upon which are finely carved images of the Instruments of the Passion or Arma Christi: the Crown of Thorns; three of the Holy Nails, in a bundle; the Cross with the Titulus Crucis, crossed by the ladder used for the Deposition, the Holy Lance with which a Roman soldier inflicted the final of the Five Wounds, and the Holy Sponge set on a reed with which gall and vinegar were offered to Jesus; the Veil of Veronica; the column where Jesus was whipped (the Flagellation) with the cockerel that crowed after Peter’s third denial of Jesus on top, and with the whips used to scourge him placed diagonally; and his seamless tunic or robe, all depicted on the front. On the back there is a water pitcher resting on a basin, from which Pontius Pilate washed his hands; the hammers used to drive the nails into Jesus’s hands and feet, crossed; the pincers used to remove the nails, crossed; the money bag with the thirty pieces of silver held by two crossed hands; a torch and a knife used by the arresting soldiers at the time of the betrayal, crossed; the (three) dice with which the soldiers cast lots; and finally a reed basket filled with nails and a hammer. Stemming from an ivory carving tradition which was promptly exploited by the Portuguese, whether by missionaries keen on commissioning the images they so desperately required for the indoctrination of new converts, or even by courtly officials of the Portuguese State of India, the production of Catholic images in Ceylon acquired great fame and prestige all over Asia, having been the starting point and centre of dissemination for an industry that, from the island`s loss to the Dutch in 1658, probably moved to Goa.

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