Jamini Roy (1887-1972)

Although Jamini Roy was not familiar with Biblical stories he painted several works based on the life of Christ. In a conversation with Mary Milford in 1943 Jamini Roy said 'I am not a Christian. I do not read the New Testament, or any other writing, but I meditate on what I have heard and what I know. There have been few, if any, satisfactory paintings of Christ for the expression of the significance of his life. This is a great theme and I shall continue to struggle to find a fitting expression in modern terms.'

Roy's paintings of Christ have about them an elemental starkness and a tragic dignity. The diagramatic organisation of form, straight lines, sombre colours, triangular face and eyes recall Byzantine mosaics and Russian icons.