Jesus, as the Good Shepherd

Didrion, Alphonse. Christian Iconography: The History of Christian Art through the Ages. Vol. 1 New York: Ungar, 1965

While Christ has commonly been represented in the form of a lamb, He is also frequently symbolized by a shepherd who guards the lamb (337). In the book of St. John, Jesus himself is proclaiming, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knowth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep (St. John, x. 14, 15, 16)" (338). Christ was constantly represented as a youthful, beardless shepherd in the catacombs, the sarcophagi, and in the paintings in fresco (338). Though the pictures of a shepherd watching over his sheep have been associated with the Christian church, many Pagan antiquaries say that the Christians borrowed the idea of the Good Shepherd from their representation of love. However, many believe the foundation of the Christian church, being love, and the repetition of this idea gave them every right to make the Good Shepherd their own (341).