Life of Christ By Michael Gonsalves Mar 14 2013 As Christians observe season of Lent, an exhibition of rare paintings by Antonio Xavier Trindade captures Christ's life
Art curator Dominic Corda is holding an exhibition of a series of rare paintings at St Patrick's Town in Pune on various facets of Jesus Christ that fit into the theme of the ongoing season of Lent observed by Christians around the world. The collection of paintings by renowned Goan portrait painter Antonio Xavier Trindade (1870-1935) fittingly puts the visitors in a deep meditative mood of Lent season, the 40-day period of fasts, prayers and sacrifices. The prolonged days and nights of retrospection and examination of life beginning on Ash Wednesday (February 20) are reminder to 'remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,' to the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, to the joyful Easter on Sunday (March 31). "The 40-day season of Lent that leads to the joy of Easter is the most sacred and spiritually powerful journey in the Christian calendar, and therefore, this exhibition coincides with it," Corda, 50, told FC Roar. He said these paintings are carefully selected to fit into the Christian theme of 40 days of fasts and prayers. Lent is a time when Christians are invited to examine their faith, and deepen the commitment to live the Christian life of love, service and charity. "The painting of a Biblical woman washing Christ's feet is an invitation to turn away from sin, ask for forgiveness and surrender at the feet of the lord," Corda said. His series on Christ such as The Last Supper, Ecco Homo (Christ with a crown of thorns), Meditation at Garden of Gethsemane, Death on the Cross, The Good Shepherd, The Samaritan Woman at the Well, Healing St Peter's wife's mothery John the Baptist, The Young Rich Man, Resurrected Christ appearing to Mary Ma, On the way to Emmaus, St Peter and Christ, The Flight to Egypt, Christ's Baptism b gdalene et all draw viewers to a deep meditation on the meaning of life and a soul-searching journey. The series offers an opportunity to viewers, especially Christians, to walk together with Christ as pilgrims through this season of Lent and discover one's inner voice until Easter Sunday on March 31. "These visuals are so powerful that viewing them lends itself to walking with Christ and experience the power of divinity to purify one's soul," Corda said. "Today these paintings are priceless," Corda said, adding that The woman washing Christ's feet oil on canvas painting was quoted at around £25,000-30,000 in Bonhams Contemporary Indian and Pakistani Paintings, September 2006, London. This painting illustrates a combination of European style and religious themes found in his oeuvre, Corda said. He said Trindade, trained at the age of 19 in the Sir J J School of Art in Mumbai and later appointed as a teacher there, had a strongly Roman Catholic upbringing in the Portuguese colony of Goa. He was an expert in handling pencil, charcoal and watercolour as well as oil painting. Referred by the art critics as 'Rembrandt of the East', the artist, hailing from Asnova village in Goa, shot to fame for his masterful portraits and landscapes winning several prizes in Bombay Art Society's annual exhibitions. He won a gold medal in 1920 at the same society for his portrait of a Maharashtrian Lady. "This painting is showcased at the J J School of Art and one can see the quality of his workmanship and skill as a great master artist," Corda said. Interestingly, Trindade had a unique style of painting. "I was surprised to find in my collection his unique style of painting scenes and portraits. For example, the Flight to Egypt wherein Joseph takes his foster wife Mary and baby Jesus on a donkey, to escape the wrath of King Herod, who had ordered to kill all males below the age of two, is first sketched in sepia ink (a reddish-brown colour) and then, the final painting in oil on canvas is perfected," Corda, a finder and collector of art for the last 12 years, said. According to legend, Trindade had lots of paintings on religious themes, which were rarely seen by anyone. "In that sense, this collection is unique which showcases his deep spiritual inner journey," Corda said. He said there is great similarity between the style of Dutch portrait painters and Trindade's works. The effects of his paintings are slightly dull, but the technique of blending and merging colours in the paintings show his great versatility and craftsmanship of creating masterpieces, he said. Among the Indian portrait painters, the Goan painter had a distinctly classical approach. His Roman Catholic upbringing in Portuguese Goa greatly influenced both his technique and the theme that he chose. Besides oil portraits of well-known figures of his time, Trindade's oeuvre also included several intimate domestic scenes featuring his family, servants and itinerant mendicants. Corda said due to his exceptional craftsmanship and handling of paint as well as the skilfully executed composition earned him a place of honour in the history of the early 20th century Indian art. After he retired in 1929 from J J School of Art, Trindade bought a bungalow at Mahim suburb of Mumbai. He used to paint for the maximum hours of the day at his studio in his house or would sit at the Mahim Beach painting. Interestingly, Trindade never stopped painting even though he was diagnosed with diabetes and since a serious injury to his foot could not be healed, one of his legs had to be amputated. Later, his second leg was also amputated due to a fall at the Mahim Beach. Still he never gave up painting. It was during the period of his hospitalisation that he painted his last painting of Jesus Christ with a crown of thorns titled Man of Sorrow. Perhaps it was a reflection of his own sorrow that he endured before he passed away in 1935. http://www.mydigitalfc.com/leisure-writing/life-christ-463 ~Avelino
