Agnes Dei

 

I don't think I wrote anything about this piece when I was sculpting it.  I sure had fun with the lamb, though.  The traditional images of Agnes Dei, the Lamb of  God, show his/her chest pierced and the blood flowing out into a chalice.  That part of the symbolism I found disturbing.  So, after confirming that my artistic license is up-to-date, I felt free to leave it out!

 

The cross on the flag is a Crusader cross.  You can't see it in the photo, but there are four small crosses around it, one incised in each of the spaces between the arms of the large cross.

 

It was fun creating the design behind the lamb's head with incised dots.  And, of course, I couldn't resist pressing in some of my spiral wires for my most favorite image.

 

I wasn't really sure what to do at the top of the piece on either side of the "Ecce," so I just added some ribbons/banners.  The writing says "Ecce agnes Dei qui tollis peccata mundi."  "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."  I believe that "tollis" is second person, so it's actually "you who take away the sins of the world."

 

I think this may be my favorite ceramic piece so far.

 

The little violets in the photo are from my garden and they're there to help show the scale of the piece as this is one of the photos I used when I listed it in my Etsy shop.