[the PRINCE OF PEACE]

14-1/2 x 22” in [36.8 x 56 cm]

India, signed P.C. Jesu Raj, polychrome gouache & collage on board

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Portrait of the Sacred Heart, depicted with classical attributes (i.e: surrounded by the crown of thorns, bleeding, crowned by a cross and burning) and located within the bosom of Christ, painted from above the waist as emerging from clouds, and who points at the Heart with his left hand. His right hand blesses the viewer, while a subtle golden halo emanates from behind his head. Behind him, a blue cross upon a golden background, in which six scenes of the life of Jesus are represented: at the left of Christ’s head are the Nativity, the Finding in the Temple, and Jesus working with Saint Joseph as a carpenter. At the right, the Raising of Jairus’ Daughter, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. At the bottom right of the work, an open book displaying a passage in Tamil from the Old Testament, Book of Isaiah 9:6, listing one of the titles of the Messiah: ‘The Prince of Peace’. At the bottom left, two pink poinsettias. At the bottom center, a Tamil inscription by the printer, reading: ‘Sathya Calendars, Madurai’. The theme is traditionally Catholic. Signed by the artist in the image.

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‘Calendar Art’ Paintings of India are the original artworks from which commercial printers created mass-produced popular images. The artworks can be grouped into major themes; religion, alluring women, patriotic national heroes and political leaders, movie stars, divine cherubic babies.

Functioning as pin-ups, calendar illustrations, and altar gods, the printed images can be found throughout 19th, 20th and 21st century India homes, schools, shrines, public halls and workplaces. Displayed within a wide range of contexts this art knows no class boundaries: in living rooms of the prosperous, on urban slum lean-to’s, in village thatched dwellings, framed in middle class kitchens.

The prints of specifically religious nature depict gods, goddesses, epic scenes, saints and sacred sites. Displayed in every kind of shop imaginable (tailor shops, tea stalls, grocery stores), transport (car and taxi dashboards, train conductors perch), upon persons (shirt pockets, wallets, purse), these iconic images are believed to act as talismans offering a means to worship, and, potentially access the divine.

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similar calendar art paintings and/or prints have been exhibited and/or archived at the following venues:

=> Gods in the Bazaar

=> Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (Vancouver)

=> The British Museum