With the advent of Christianity in Goa, masterpieces of Christian sculptures in ivory, wood and clay depicting images of Christ on the Cross, of Virgin Mary under different invocations and of patron saints and angels were introduced in Goa by the members of various religious orders. The priceless treasures are housed at the Museum of Christian Art situated at Old Goa near Santa Monica Convent. By PERCIVAL NORONHA.

A carved marble plaque of the Holy Trinity.

WHEN VARIOUS RELIGIOUS orders landed in Goa, after the Portuguese occupation, they erected noble and expensive churches, chapels, monasteries, convents and colleges. Many of these are reckoned as outstanding ex­amples of Christian architecture. Most of the churches in Goa exhibit tiered frontispiece and are framed with columns and pilasters, general­ly presenting single or a combination of classic­al orders of architecture. They belong to the Mannerist period - late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries - and at a later date, it is possible to see baroque influences in the fake domes and in some of the facade decorations of some of the churches.

Bible: The Old and the New Testament in leather bound parchment.

While constructional activity of large religious buildings was going unabated, a zealous campaign for the evangelisation was being re­lentlessly pursued. The local population with their artistically receptive mind, proved themselves capable of easily assimilating the symbols of Western Christian civilization with which they came in contact for the first time. In little more than a century, the newly formed society also adopted Christian art and taste in the architectural traits of their dwellings, changing the style according to their means and by imitating the designs they had opportunity of seeing both in Goa and abroad. Their interiors were so designed to always yield room to a family “oratory” - many of them of great artistic value - or sometime to a chapel located in a most accessible place in the house. Thus, there arose, a new cultural graft in the Eastern lands, dictated by the spread of the Christian faith not without the demands of religious rigorism, both material and spiritual.

Silver Crown

Speaking of material demands of the interiors of those majestic abodes of the Christian community in Goa, for instance, furniture always served various purposes and met the basic needs of the Church. The vast range includes chairs, arm­chairs, benches, tables, stools, tabourets, cup­boards, chests, tabernacles, lecterns, highly de­corated candlesticks, confessionals etc. These are seen in different styles with accentuated Portuguese influence from Gothic to Renaissance, Baroque to Neo-classic, while regence, rococo and other influences are also found among the specimens. The armchairs of high backrest with gilt decoration from where the ministers of the church used to address the con­gregation (old liturgy), are veritable pieces of art. These chairs are exhibited in almost all churches of Goa and are objects of curiosity among visitors. Chests for keeping vestments, some with fine inlay work (marquetry) or of in­tarsia art, with different type of wood, ivory, bone, metal or mother-of-pearl, also constitute pieces of attraction to the visitors.

Enthroned Virgin painted on Wood.

With the advent of Christianity in Goa, masterpieces of Christian sculptures in ivory, wood and clay, depicting images of Christ on the Cross, of Virgin Mary under different invocations and of patron saints and angels etc., were introduced in Goa by the members of religious orders. Such images were soon being made by local artists. Many of the objects in this category in particular of ivory, are of surprising richness and perfection. Also, for the magnificent religious ceremonies of the Church, a large collection of crosses, plates, chalices, pyxes, ciboria, patens, crosiers, reliquaries, monstrances, ostensories, goblets, communion cups, saucers, crowns, frames, staffs, thuribles, candlesticks etc. are being used. These were of gold, silver or of some alloy. Many of these items are enriched with semi-precious stones also. Renaissance giant monstrance in silver in the form of a pelican from the monastery of St. Monica (Old Goa) as well as the silver tomb of St. Francis Xavier beautifully set in tiers with a combina­tion of a series of Corinthian mini-colonnades, are good examples of Christian art in Goa.

Silver incense holder.

In the field of ornamental needlework, many rich samples of vestments made of damask silk or velvet are found in almost every church. Gold thread embroideries were used lavishly in keeping with the Christian tradition. Such art, rose to a high standard in the convents of va­rious religious orders in Goa in the XVII and XVIII centuries, particularly in the Convent of St. Monica in Old Goa. In fact, embroidery be­came a conventual art producing liturgical vest­ments like chasubles, stoles, maniples etc. Also, the old mass manuals, missals, graduals, Bible versions in different sizes and shapes, all bound in parchment, silk or leather with embos­sed letterings in gold, constitute a rich testi­mony of the Christian art.

Wooden Urna (Box of Maundy Thursday Exposition) with Brocade.

Equally interesting are the several types of church candlesticks of varied shapes and sizes, in wood and metal, as well as the tradi­tional oil wick lamps, which in the past, had be­come the only illuminants in the churches. La­ter, in the XVII and XVIII centuries, the wall esconces made in combination with brass or copper and glass or crystal and the imposing crystal lustre (chandeliers) of different sizes and styles were both functional and decorative. Many rich illuminant devices, are still in use in the churches.

The story of artistic development of Christian art in Goa, particularly in the domain of fine arts, would be left incomplete if no refer­ence is made to the efforts of religious orders in introducing the painting for the instruction and edification of the neo-converts on the great mys­teries of the faith and the passages of the Bible. From the paintings preserved to date, there are superb examples of traditional Adoration of the Magi, Baptism of Christ, His entry into Jeru­salem, His Passion etc. Again, the ‘portraits’ of the Virgin under different invocations, and that of the life of saints are part of the great selection of classical paintings on canvas or on wooden panels in several churches of Goa, particularly in the gallery of St. Francis di Assis in the Old City.

A velvet processional banner with Our Lady of Martyrs.

And so, there they are, thousands of ob­jects in Goa of Christian art - distinctive and lively. It is obvious that a greater part of this rich repository was wrought in Goa by receptive local artists who were encouraged to adapt their traditional crafts to conform to the Christian style. Consciously or unconsciously, each artist followed the Indian mind by shaping pieces of

European models with Oriental decorations. Thus, we see the emergence of a new current in the style, known the world over as lndo­ Portuguese style, which was established by un­known Indian artists with great ingenuity, origi­nality and splendour.

Now, it is good for us with our own in­evitable prejudices to see how the members of various religious orders and our ancestors too, who, imbued with the Christian zeal and dedica­tion, collected a great array of immediate re­quirements for the glory of the Church and at the places of worship in their homes. The devasta­tions of time, however, and several vicissitudes of history, aided by the indifference of men, swept away many valuables of the rich collec­tion. Yet, precious pieces of Christian art are still filling the age old churches, convents, chapels and seminaries as well as Christian homes in Goa.

Text and Photos courtesy: Museum of Christian Art, Goa souvenir.

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