"I am the Good Shepherd."

 Antique patina

 Size: 14 x 10.5cm 

In the 1st century, Christian artists represented the Saviour in the guise of the Good Shepherd. The title of this icon in Greek "o poimenokalos" involves two realities. The word "kalos"meaning the Beautiful ( le Beau) and / or the Good (le bon),thus reflecting the philosophical questioning on the Beautiful, the Good, and the Just (Plato, Kant...). In France, this representation is called either the icon of “le Bon Pasteur” or  “le Bon berger.”
This iconography is not tied to a particular feast, it follows a theme and refers to Bible readings of: John 10:1-18; Lk 15:4-7; Mt 18:12-14. 

Christ wears a dark red tunic, the sign of his divinity. In the halo of Christ we can read the Greek inscription: 'OWN' (eimi) present participle of the verb to be "Being", the one who is (I am he who is, Ex 3:14).