The Museum of Christian Art (MoCA) is housed in the 17th-century Santa Monica Convent, in the heart of Old Goa, the picturesque district of churches, monuments and ancient monastic ruins. A church is attached to the three-story stone structure. The museum is housed in its nave.
![A 17th-century painting of the Virgin and Child framed with paisley patterns and silver filigree. (Image provided by MoCA) A 17th-century painting of the Virgin and Child framed with paisley patterns and silver filigree. (Image provided by MoCA)](https://images.hindustantimes.com/img/2021/04/30/550x309/5a56a81c-a9a8-11eb-b236-38a686d00209_1619782729662.jpg)
Over the past three years, the museum has been painstakingly renovated in a project jointly executed by MoCA and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Portugal, with the conservation of more than 200 objects carried out by INTACH ( Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), New Delhi.
The renovated museum now extends over a ground floor, a mezzanine and a reconstructed first floor, the original having collapsed in the 19th century.
“In the new layout of the museum, the art objects from the collection were presented in specially designed display cases with appropriate lighting. The collection has been grouped based on their materials and arranged chronologically to facilitate interpretation of the evolving history of Indo-Portuguese art,” explains museum curator Natasha Fernandes.
When the Portuguese arrived in India, they brought with them European masterpieces and used these masterpieces as models when they commissioned new works from highly skilled Indian artists. As a result, from the 16th to the mid-20th century, a range of objects created here in the Portuguese colonies bear the stamp of both cultures.
Sometimes a Portuguese icon will have features that seem distinctly Indian; local embroidery appears on the clothing worn by representations of Jesus and Mary; local flora and fauna appear in statuary; and, in a harmonious marriage of cultures, symbols important to the Hindu faith, such as the lotus and the naga, are seen in distinctly Christian objects.
![Intricate metalwork covers a 17th-century tabernacle monstrance. (Image provided by MoCA) Intricate metalwork covers a 17th-century tabernacle monstrance. (Image provided by MoCA)](https://images.hindustantimes.com/img/2021/04/30/550x309/cbe1f43c-a340-11eb-90bc-4c523c756c26_1619782727103.jpg)
At the museum, the most intricate examples of Indo-Portuguese art include an 18th-century image of the Child Jesus as Savior of the World depicting Nagas and a red velvet robe covered in zardozi embroidery; a 20th-century ivory depiction of Mary as Nirmala Matha, rising from a lotus and dressed in a sari; a 17th-century painting of the Virgin and Child framed in cashmere and silver filigree; and a 17th-century silver-on-wood tabernacle monstrance.
The tabernacle monstrance (a tabernacle is a sacred object used to hold the consecrated host called a wafer) measures almost 1.50 m high. The spherical base is made of wood covered with silver and the monstrance (used to present the sacred host for the adoration of the faithful) takes the shape of a splendid pelican. In its chest is an opening surrounded by a golden sunbeam designed to highlight the consecrated host. Two chicks cling to the bird, waiting to be fed. “All these characteristics as well as the metalworking technique used by the goldsmiths, especially on the feathers, make this piece unique,” explains Fernandes.
Elsewhere, an intricate 17th-century ivory depiction of Jesus as the Good Shepherd depicts a young boy in sheepskin with sheep frolicking at his feet and one leaping over his left shoulder. The pedestal is designed to resemble a terraced mound. From the upper level protrudes a face representing the source of life, from whose mouth the water of life springs into a pool where the birds of paradise drink. On the lower level is the figure of a penitent saint performing his penance in a cave. The lush green foliage, symbolic of the Tree of Life, would have been part of the original, but is now lost.
The delicate painting of the Virgin and Child shows Mary, arms crossed on her chest, looking at the sleeping Jesus. The painting is also notable for its multiple frames – one bearing stylized leaf motifs, another with floral and animal motifs, yet another with Mughal-style scrollwork paisleys, and the final outermost frame worked in filigree fine silver.
These and other items from the renovated museum can be viewed online at Museumofchristianart.com.