"Saint John the Baptist". Carved, polychromed and gilded wooden sculpture. Indo-Portuguese. Goa. 17th century.

Very interesting sculpture, bearing in mind that examples of carved wooden Indo-Portugues imagery are rare. Most of their images were carved in ivory.
This Saint John is reminiscent of the aesthetic of the ivory Children of the Good Shepherd, as can be seen in the curls of the hair, the morphology and facial features.
The habitual animal skin clothing, which the body is covered in, is depicted here as a magnificent tunic created from the complete skin of a big cat, with its claws and head, which also makes it a sculpture of great fineness, as decoratively it is very special.
Saint measurements: 39,7 x 17 cm. Total measurements: 44,5 x 17 x 11 cm.