A sheep lies across his shoulders; he holds its legs.
Bible in art · Luke
The Good Shepherd (Le bon pasteur)
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
The museum calls this sheet The Good Shepherd. A shepherd climbs barefoot over grey boulders on a steep hillside, a sheep across his shoulders, holding its legs in front of his chest.
He wears a white headcloth and a heavy brown cloak blown about by the wind. Behind him the valley drops away with olive trees, and a town of pale buildings stands on the ridge.
From the text
- He goes after the one that is lost, until he finds it (Luke 15:4)
- “when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders” (Luke 15:5)
The artist’s own
- The steep rocky slope he climbs
- A walled town on the skyline
Details
The sheep
The shepherd
A bearded face under a white headcloth.
Climbing
Bare feet on the grey boulders.
The town
Pale buildings on top of the hill.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.106) · Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper · Brooklyn Museum (Commons file page, «Permission»): "This image was uploaded by the Brooklyn Museum as a content partnership, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum." — "No known copyright restrictions".