The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd

280–90 CE
Overall: 49.5 x 26 x 16.2 cm (19 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 6 3/8 in.)

Did You Know?

This youthful shepherd appears serene while bearing a large sheep on his broad shoulders. He looks untaxed by this effort and his calm presence seems to put the small sheep at ease, as they frolic at his feet. Since this sculpture was found together with the four Jonah statuettes, it is likely this figure depicts Christ as the Good Shepherd.

Description

Images of a youthful shepherd standing among his flock and carrying a sheep over his shoulders were popular with Romans of traditional faith as well as Christians living in the Late Roman Empire. Painted on the walls or the ceiling of a burial chamber or carved on a marble sarcophagus, this image might simply invoke the deceased’s hope for a peaceful afterlife spent in a pastoral setting. For Christians, this traditional Roman image took on a more specific meaning. It could be understood to refer to the passage in the Gospel according to John in which Christ said of himself: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11). Allegedly found together with the Jonah statuettes, it is indeed likely that this figure represents Christ as the Good Shepherd.
  • According to William Wixom, an unconfirmed report tells us that the entire group (1965.237-1965.247) was found in a single, huge pithos or jar.
    -1965
    (J. J. Klejman, New York)
    1965-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 36 archive.org
    “Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 3 (March 1967): 67–88. Reproduced: Cover, p. 77, 86; Mentioned: p. 75, 77, figs. 23, 24 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 36 archive.org
    Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Margaret English Frazer, and Kurt Weitzmann. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Museum, 1977. Mentioned: p. 407-411
    Weitzmann, Kurt, and Margaret English Frazer. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century ; Based on the Catalogue to the Exhibition "Age of Spirituality", Metropolitan Museum New York, 1977. [New York, NY]: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. pp. 406-411 books.google.com
    Kitzinger, Ernst. 1978. "The Cleveland Marbles". I Monumenti Cristiani Preconstantiniani. Mentioned: p. 653-675
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 34 archive.org
    McColl, Donald Alexander. Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland in Their Eastern Mediterranean Context. 1991.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 14 archive.org
    Lehman, Karen M. "Sacred and Profane Hellenizing Marbles of the Late Third Century Roman Empire: Secular Portraits and Religious Narrative Sculptures in the Cleveland Museum of Art Reviewed in the Cultural Context." M.A. thesis, Kent State University, 2004. Mentioned: p. v; Reproduced: p. 105; fig, 22
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 34-37, no. 1
    Franklin, David. The Cleveland Museum of Art. London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd., 2012. Reproduced: p. 20 - 21
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 261
    Hornik, Heidi J. "Freestanding Sculpture." In The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Art.Jensen, Robin Margaret Jensen and Mark D. Ellison, editors. Abingdon Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. Reproduced: p. 76. fig. 5.5
    Rumscheid, Frank, Sabine Schrenk and Kornelia Kressirer. Göttliche Ungerechtigkeit?: Strafen und Glaubensprüfungen als Themen antiker und frühchristlicher Kunst. Petersberg: Dr. M. Imhof, 2018. Reproduced: p. 305; IV.2.3; Abb. 15
    Morgan, Faith Pennick. Dress and Personal Appearance in Late Antiquity: The Clothing of the Middle and Lower Classes. Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2018, 145-146. Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 145-146, fig. 175
    Walker, Alicia. "Iconomachy in Byzantium." In The Image Debate: Figural Representation in Islam and Across the World. Melanie Gibson, editor. London: Gingko, 2019. Reproduced: p. 89, fig. 4; Mentioned: p. 90
    Bol, Peter, Carola Reinsberg, Renate Bol, D. Kreikenbom, Hans-Ulrich Cain, Heike Richter, and Britta Özen-Kleine. Plastik der römischen Kaiserzeit vom Regierungsantritt des Antoninus Pius bis zum Ende der Antike. Worms : Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbh, 2019. Mentioned: p. 189, 191, 193-5; Reproduced: Abb. 181 (bd.2)
    Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane, and Gabriele Finaldi. A Guide to Christian Art. 2020, 68. Reproduced: p. 68, fig. 7.
    Sánchez Galera, José María, and Gregorio Luri Medrano. La edad de las nueces: los niños en el Imperio Romano. Madrid : Ediciones Encuentro S.A., 2021. Reproduced: p. 282, fig. 38
    Becherer, Joseph Antenucci, and Henry Luttikhuizen. Christ Among Us: Sculptures of Jesus Across the History of Art. Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2022. Mentioned: p. 19; reproduced: p. 18, 123, no.1
  • Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
    Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (organizer) (November 18, 2007-March 30, 2008).
    Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (11/18/2007 - 3/30/2008): "Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art", ex. cat. no. 21, p. 190-191.
    Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).
  • {{cite web|title=The Good Shepherd|url=false|author=|year=280–90 CE|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.241