Christmas in India: How Indian artists envisioned Christ’s birth

The birth of Jesus Christ, a pivotal bible event, has been the subject of numerous paintings by European painters who have frequently used the themes of splendor and ingenuity to depict the occasion on cloth.

These works subconsciously prevent those outside the West from having an impact on this bible event and are one of the most commonly available examples of Christian art.

However, Indian artists have tried to convey their vision of this event through the depiction of Jesus ‘ birth and other Christian themes over the years.

Some have done so deliberately, some unintentionally, but the end result is a body of work that breathes new life and meaning into the event of Christ’s birth, and Christianity itself.

Here are some drawings from the history of Indian art that examine Jesus ‘ delivery from a particular context.

Muhammad Jalaluddin Akbar, the Mughal prince, is credited with bringing Jesuit missionaries to his court and converting north India to Christianity.

The preachers brought with them German artworks and sacred scriptures that influenced court painters. Akbar and his descendants even commissioned numerous paintings with Christian styles, and some court paintings started incorporating elements of Muslim art into these works.

Neha Vermani, a scholar of South Asia, discusses a painting by Mughal judge artists that featured king Muhammad in the traditional Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in the birth scene.

” Roman rulers saw themselves as being’ just’ leaders, capable of maintaining unity and harmony in their kingdoms, they were’ general rulers’. According to Ms Vermani, allowing various sects to coexist was essential to how they saw themselves and wanted to become remembered.

The 18th Century artwork below features standard artistic elements of Mughal art, including very stylised figures, vivid colours, naturalism and ornamentation.

Born in 1887 in what is now India’s West Bengal state, Jamini Roy is credited with bringing up parts of Bengali traditions skill and Kalighat paintings, a unique art form that was first developed close to a well-known church in Kolkata area.

According to Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director of DAG, art critic WG Archer once pointed out that Christ represented a Santhal number for Jamini Roy ( the Santhals are an American cultural party ).

Roy found his paintings on Christian themes to be at least as significant as those on Hindu myth, all of which were rendered in a folk type of modernism, to be unique and his own, he says.

Angelo de Fonseca, who was born in Goa in 1902, is credited with creating a unique Christian symbolism that incorporated both his Goan tastes and Eastern influences.

Mary is not depicted as a fair lady in a blue outfit in his paintings, but she resembles a woman with brown skin, sari, and classic Indian jewelry, which married Hindu women wear.

Biblical scenes take place in regional contexts and contain themes and elements appropriate for American audiences.

He attempted to refute the notion that the West is the birthplace of visual creativity and beauty through his art.

” Fonseca wanted to interpret Christianity within the Indian peninsula, which has largely been seen as a western religious history.” It was from this anxiety that his paintings painted Christianity anew”, RinaldD’Souza, chairman of the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Goa, told the BBC.