Giovanni Cola

This oil painting is reminiscent of a widely circulated print by Hieronymus Wierix (1553-1619).[1] Published before 1600, Wierix’s print, in turn, copies one of the most celebrated and venerated images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as Salus Populi Romani, or ‘Protectress of the Roman People’, an ancient Roman Republic title adopted as a Marian attribute. The now heavily overpainted original Byzantine icon, which according to tradition was taken to Rome in 590 CE, is now kept at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Pauline (or Borghese) Chapel.[2] For centuries it was placed over the church’s, the third of Rome’s Patriarchal Basilicas, baptistery door. Named Regina Caeli - Queen of Heaven - in 1240, it occupied its current location in 1613. The image, considered miraculous since the fifteenth century, was later used by the Society of Jesus to promote the cult to the Virgin Mary, particularly through the Sodality of Our Lady movement. Also known as the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this Roman Catholic Marian society was founded in 1563 at the Roman Jesuit College, being mainly composed of younger boys from the college. The choice of Mary as its patron reflected a strong Marian devotion that was suited to the young members’ age. Sodalities of the Blessed Virgin were established at several Jesuit colleges, including in Portuguese-ruled Asia.

The icon at Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the most widely disseminated Christian iconographies, and one of the so-called ‘Luke’s images’, is believed to have been painted from real life by Saint Luke himself, as a true likeness of the Virgin Mary. Portrayed in demi length, the standing figure is depicted as the ‘Mother of God’ or Theotokos (Θεοτόκος) in Greek, a title bestowed upon her by the Council of Ephesus in 431. In the original Byzantine composition, the Virgin’s right-hand crosses over the left, firmly securing The Child Jesus, who in turn blesses the viewer with his right hand, while tucking a hefty Gospel under his left arm. Wierix print closely follows the original, maintaining the poses while softening the figures’ faces, particularly The Child’s, and arranging the drapery folds in a more naturalistic way.

A painting of the Salus Madonna was brought from Rome to Portugal in 1569, to be gifted to Queen Catarina of Austria (1507-1578) by Saint Francis Borgia, the third Superior General of the Society of Jesus (r. 1565-1572).[3] Venerated in the royal chapel, it was transferred to the Jesuit Church of Saint Roch upon the Queen’s death, as was determined in her will.[4] This copy was amongst the earliest made in Rome, following from Pope Pius V (r. 1566-1572) permission for it to be copied from the original, thus prompting the global circulation of this specific iconography.

Only in the depiction of the Virgin’s hieratic face does our painting on copper follow the Byzantine original. As in the icon, Mary wears a blue cloak, featuring a golden Greek cross on the forehead, and a wimple, or veil, for modesty and humility, whose folds follow those on the cloak. Worn underneath the cloak, it covers her hair and most of the neck. The composition draws the viewer closer to the intimate scene, inviting to piety and serene contemplation.

The Child Jesus, naked and firmly held by the Virgin, holds an apple in His left hand, while reaching towards His mother with the right. The apple’s presence alludes to Jesus as the ‘New Adam’, who will redeem humanity, while the Virgin assumes the role of the ‘New Eve’, playing a pivotal role as the Mother of Salvation. The Child’s face, looking lovingly at his mother for maternal consolation, is thus softer than the Virgin’s. Contrasting with the Byzantine icon gilt background, ours is painted in black, thus highlighting The Child’s golden flaming halo, and the simpler Virgin’s aureole.

Excepting for the frontal depiction of Mary, the Child’s posture, and that of His mother, seem to derive from another sacred iconography, the so-called Madonna del Pilone. Also known as Regina Montis Regalis, the fifteenth-century fresco can be admired in Mondovì’s Sanctuary Basilica, near Vicoforte, a monumental temple in Piedmont, northern Italy. By the late sixteenth century, the miraculous fresco already attracted large numbers of pilgrims, prompting the basilica’s construction, began in 1596. A print copying the fresco, featuring The Child dressed in a tunic and holding his hands in prayer while on the Virgin’s lap, was published by an anonymous Flemish engraver ca. 1590-1640.[5] As for the naked Child’s maternal embrace, as well as the hands positioning, may have been inspired by an anonymous seventeenth-century print after a drawing by the Lombard painter Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1574-1625).[6]

The Goan origin of the superbly carved and costly ebony frame - testimony to the painting’s high regard – is evidenced by its decorative motifs featuring foliage scrolls, lotus-shaped rosettes, and intricate mouldings. Although not as masterly carved, analogies can be found in two extant polychrome and gilt carved teakwood frames at the Museum of Christian Art, in Old Goa (inv. 02.1.12 and 02.1.13).[7] Made for framing two seventeenth-century religious paintings once in the sixteenth-century Saviour of the World Church, in Lotulim, Goa, they also feature similar foliage decoration and large rosettes. Unlike teak, the finer grained and harder ebony, allows for more precise carving.

The painting’s origin, on the contrary, is more challenging to determine. Painted onto a thick, smooth sheet of copper, its brushwork is of remarkable quality and could only have been executed by a well-trained European painter, probably Italian. The painting’s softness and fineness are reminiscent of Luis de Morales (1510/1511-1584), a Spanish painter that settled in Badajoz, by the Portuguese border. Morales was strongly influenced by Raphael (1483-1520) and by Leonardo’s Lombard school (1452-1519).[8] Fulfilling the demand for smaller sized religious paintings intended for private and intimate devotion, in the 1560s and 1570s Morales painted tablillas (small panels’) of The Virgin and Child, similar to ours.

Very likely painted at the turn of the seventeenth century, perhaps in Europe, our oil on copper may have been taken to Asia by a Jesuit missionary, or instead painted in Asia by an Italian, or Italianate artist. In Portugal, the Society of Jesus engaged renowned painters, such as André Reinoso (fl. 1610-1650), who ca. 1619 produced a series on the life of Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552) for the sacristy of Saint Roch’s Church, in Lisbon.[9] In the context of Asian missions, particularly in Japan, the Society would rely upon Giovanni Cola’s (1560-1626) skills, an Italian Jesuit painter, and the Jesuit Painting Seminary, established in 1590.[10] Based in various locations in the southernmost Japanese island of Kyushu, the seminary was eventually transferred to Macao in 1614, due to the increasing persecution and subsequent eviction of Christian missionaries. Several paintings, mostly on copper and at times encased in portable lacquer oratories, are attributed to Cola and to his Asian disciples. One such work, of comparable quality to ours, depicts The Virgin and Child in a maternal embrace, The Child’s left hand tenderly caressing His mother’s chin. Fractured in two sections and abraded on the painted surface (framed 24.2 x 19.4 cm), it belongs to Tokyo’s National Museum (inv. C-699). Another devotional painting (24.2 x 22.7 cm) in the same museum (inv. C-700) exhibits even stronger resemblance in its brushwork fineness, particularly in The Child’s face modelling and skin tones highlights. It seems plausible that, despite its poor condition, the Tokyo and our painting were produced by the same hand.

Preserved almost like relics in Japan, such artworks arrived in Asia, from Europe, in significant numbers, although some could have been painted by Giovanni Cola himself in Japan or Macao, or by his most proficient Chinese or Japanese students. The latter copied, rather mechanically, the European models supplied by Cola, often following local Asian aesthetics, a dual influence evident in extant works.

It is plausible that our painting may have been created by Cola, either before his arrival in Asia, during his brief stay in Goa before travelling to Macao in 1582, in Japan where he settled the following year, or following his return to Macao in 1614, where he stayed up until his death in 1626. Such attribution would account for the painting’s high-quality brushwork, as well as for its original composition, even if partly inspired by contemporary engravings.

The Painting Seminary reliance on prints by the Wierix brothers is well documented. When Pedro Martins, the Jesuit Bishop of Japan (1591-1598), visited the Seminary in 1596, by then based in Arie, a depiction of the Virgin and Child captured the visiting party’s attention. It was described as following the model that had been brought from Italy and referred as the ‘Virgin of St. Luke’, a clear allusion to the Salus Madonna.[11]

Determining a definite attribution is challenging due to the inexistence of unequivocal Giovanni Cola’s paintings. The most likely candidate, however, would be a small painting on copper decorating a high altar tabernacle door at Marchena Jesuit College, near Seville, Spain.[12] This institution, known as Colegio de la Encarnación, had close links with the Japanese mission, having received relics of the twenty-six martyrs of Japan, executed in 1597. Known as La Virgen del Amparo, the painting closely follows a print by Hieronymus Wierix depicting The Virgin and The Sleeping Child Jesus (or The Sleep of Jesus).[13] The rather touching composition, published by Wierix in five variations, was much admired in Japan, judging by the numerous extant paintings on copper – often in their original lacquered oratory – probably executed in the Painting Seminary.[14] In contrast to these, the Marchena painting stands out for its delicate brushstrokes, finer quality, and slight variations, such as the positioning of The Child’s arms and drapery folds. A close comparative observation suggests that both the Marchena painting and ours could plausibly have been painted by the same artist. Despite their obvious size differences, the miniature-like Marchena painting being considerably smaller, the flesh tones brushwork, the anatomical details modelling highlights, the figures lips, and The Child Jesus golden curls are identical, as is the unique and very personal depiction of fingers and their whiter, highlighted tips. Decorative details, such as the engraving-like overdrawing in gold on the brightly coloured drapery folds in the smaller painting, are absent from ours.

The Society of Jesus, as key agents to the Catholic Counter Reformation, played a pivotal role in globally disseminating the Salus Populi Romani iconography.[15] Although Hieronymus Wierix’s small, yet highly portable engraving, did effectively aid its diffusion, earlier prints had paved the way. In 1589, a decade prior to Wierix’s image, an anonymous print had been published by Marcello Clodio, featuring a central depiction similar to The Virgin and Child icon, surrounded by nine scenes illustrating the history of Santa Maria Maggiore, from its founding, to Sixtus V (r. 1585-1590) pontificate.[16] The global circulation of such printed sources inspired numerous Salus Madonna images, made in various media, by autochthonous Asian artists, from India all the way to Japan.

A remarkable example, preserved in Japan yet considered of European origin, is an oil on copper painting in rather poor condition (framed 17.3 x 13.9 cm), also at the Tokyo National Museum (inv. C-695). Despite its surface damage, it is apparent that it replicates Wierix’s engraving, rather faithfully, albeit its painting style and brushwork being less refined than ours.

Combining the miraculous Salus Madonna image from Rome, with elements of the Madonna del Pilone from Piedmont, the painting herein described appears to convey a unique, original composition. Possibly attributable to the Jesuit painter Giovanni Cola, it stands as a testimony to the brilliance of Jesuit art in Portuguese-influenced Asia.