Wednesday is for Words and Pictures: Germaine Richier

This week I am meditating on the parable of the Good Shepherd. Maybe someday I'll have words to explain how this sculpture has helped me find grace and hope for my otherwise worn-out imagination of Jesus as a Good Shepherd.  For now, enjoy the image and the sculpture description from that Tate website.

Shepherd of the Landes, 1951, cast 1996 by Germaine Richier, 1902 - 1959 Tate Collection

"Shepherds in the Landes region in the south of France used to use stilts to help them see over the areas of scrub and marshland where their sheep grazed. In Richier’s sculpture, the shepherd figure has become one with its stilts, achieving an insect-like adaptability. Its head is cast from a piece of eroded building rubble that Richier found on the beach. Her sculptures frequently combine human and animal forms, striking a chord with the bleak image of humanity prevalent in Europe after the Second World War."