Sevillian school, mid 17th century.The Good Shepherd.Oil on canvas.Frame of the seventeenth century..Relined.Measurements: 67 x 91 cm .; 86 x 100 cm. (Frame).This is a masterful baroque representation of the biblical theme of the Good Shepherd. On this occasion, the theme presents iconographic variations in that it is not an adult Jesus who is represented, carrying the sheep on his shoulders. Christ escapes his gaze towards heaven, establishing a silent dialogue with the Father. The lights are contrasted and baroque, managing to transmit the psychic depth imprinted in the stylized features. The brightness of the eyes communicates a vivid feeling, and the woolly body of the lamb is also rendered with bold naturalism. Jesus holds in his right hand a cartouche with the legend "I am the good shepherd". The whites and reds of the bodies are outlined against a dark background, from which the forms emerge transmitting a mystical intensity very typical of the Sevillian baroque school. The good shepherd is a very old iconography in Christian art, and it has its roots in ancient Western art, specifically in the Muscophores of Ancient Greece. Christians will follow these iconographic models for their first representations, as we see in examples such as the catacombs of St. Callixtus. As for its meaning, the good shepherd is a biblical allegory, originally referring to Yahweh and later to Jesus Christ. The good shepherd is interpreted as God, who saves the lost sheep (the sinner). The theme appears in the Old Testament, and in the Gospels the same allegory is applied to Jesus as the Son of God. In art, the theme is the most represented in Paleochristian iconography, and testimonies can be found from the 2nd century onwards. From the 4th century onwards, its representation declined until its total disappearance in the Middle Ages, but it finally recovered between the 15th and 16th centuries. After the appearance of the Divina Pastora in the 17th century, the theme was relegated again in the 19th century.