Contrastring Portraits of Luis de Camoes with Shailesh Dabholkar's Vision

Abstract

This paper examines the evolving visual representations of Luis de Camoeses by contrasting three iconic sixteenth-century portraits-the Sanguinea, the Prison portrait, and the Miniature from Goa-with a 2017 reinterpretation by Goan artist Shailesh Dabholkar. While the historical portraits immortalise Carnaes as a figure of literary genius and personal struggle, each reflects different aspects of his identity: the poetic laureate, the exiled prisoner, and the traveller to the East. Dabholkar's modern portrait reimagines Camoes through a postcolonial lens, situating the poet in Goa's contemporary artistic narrative.