Fotoreproductie van een schilderij door Philippe de Champaigne, voorstellend Christus als de goede herder before 1872

This is a photograph of a painting by Philippe de Champaigne, representing Christ as the Good Shepherd, that has been reproduced in a book. The image evokes a certain type of Catholic imagery that flourished in France during the 17th century. De Champaigne, himself born in Brussels, became a professor at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture and a founding member. The Académie was an institution that exerted enormous control over artistic production. As such it determined the artistic taste of the time. De Champaigne, however, later aligned himself with the Jansenist movement which brought him into conflict with the Académie. The visual codes of the good shepherd were meant to convey Christ’s love for his followers. The role of the historian is to understand how such images functioned within a specific historical context, examining the visual language of religious imagery. Research into De Champaigne's spiritual and artistic biography can give us a better understanding of the place of his art in society.