St. Mary Magdalene

This seemingly simple depiction of the repentant St Mary Magdalene is painted with ink, watercolour, and gold on Korean paper. From its shape, it may have been mounted on silk as a vertical or hanging scroll, known in China as lìzhóu or guàzhóu. Known today as hanji, Korean paper—referred to as Gāolízhǐ by the Chinese during the Goryeo dynasty (935-1392)—was renowned for its high quality and was regularly sent as tribute to China.[1] As with other Asian papers, such as the Chinese xuān or the Japanese washi, Korean paper is made from the inner bark fibres of the paper mulberry tree (Broussonetia papyrifera), known locally as dak, combined with the mucilage from the roots of the flowering plant Abelmoschus manihot, which serves as a fibre dispersal agent. Unlike Chinese papermaking, where the mould was traditionally made from a wooden frame with a stretched piece of woven cloth, Koreans early on developed a wooden mould with a screen made of bamboo or grasses joined to create long laid lines. These lines run parallel to the mould’s lenght, forming the distinguishing feature of hanji. This ribbed texture bears similarity to Western laid papers, although in the latter, the ribbing effect is much more pronounced.

Painted with washes of colour using a very limited palette of earth tones, blue, pale green, and highlights of opaque white, the painting includes a seal impression in bright red. Starting from the lower right, it reads chàn qī yú shēng, or ‘Repenting sorrow in the remaining life’. If starting from the upper right, the seal reads qī chàn yú shēng, or ‘A sorrowful repentance in the remaining life’.[2] The first reading emphasis repentance (chàn) as the primary theme, followed by the sorrow (qī) it evokes, applying this mood to the remainder of life. The second reading leads with sorrow, setting a mournful tone, followed by repentance, suggesting that sorrow compels the act of repentance throughout one’s remaining life. The first reading, slightly more refined in placing repentance first, aligns more closely with Confucian and Buddhist ideals, which prioritise moral and spiritual awakening. Weeping for her past transgressions and longing for redemption, this depiction of St Mary Magdalene, in connexion with the Chinese text of the seal, reflects her transformation from a life of sin and worldly attachment to one marked by profound sorrow and commitment to repentance. The inscription eloquently encapsulates Magdalene’s emotional and spiritual journey, where her remaining life is dedicated to expressing sorrow for her past actions and pursuing redemption through Christ’s forgiveness. It highlights the depth of her penitence, the emotional weight of her sorrow, and a life redefined by acts of spiritual renewal.

With the exception of the rocks and vegetation in the foreground and the tall rock formation topped by a tree behind the saint, this painting closely [Fig. 1] reproduces The Holy Magdalene by Johann Gebhard Flatz, housed in the Alte Nationalgalerie, part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (inv. NG 19/79). This oil-on-panel work (97.5 x 76.0 cm), dated 1858 and reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci’s style (1452-1519), depicts St Mary Magdalene in soft, yet vivid colours, wearing a greyish-blue tunic and a red skirt.[3] Flatz created several versions of this composition, including an altar painting in 1837 for the Parish Church of St Margaret in Flaurling near Innsbruck, and a smaller version painted in Rome in 1847, now in the Vorarlberg Museum, Bregenz. A replica of the Berlin painting, executed in 1876 on canvas (96.5 x 75.5 cm), is part of the Belvedere collection in Vienna (inv. 2976). The composition also circulated in a print made in 1850 by Julius Allgeyer (1829-1900), which presents the saint reversed in a mirror image. It is likely this print inspired the composition of our Chinese painting. Flatz (1800-1881) was born in Wolfurt, Austria, into a poor family, though his artistic talents were recognised early. He secured a painting apprenticeship, completing it at the age of fifteen. In 1816, Flatz travelled to Vienna to work as a journeyman painter and, after four years of struggle and even hunger, was finally accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1827, he left Vienna to settle in Bregenz and later Innsbruck, where he specialised in portraiture. A trip to Rome in 1833 brought him in contact with the Nazarene movement, after which he divided his time between the Eternal City and Innsbruck, mentoring students along the way. Following the Capture of Rome in 1870, Flatz relocated to Vorarlberg. The Nazarene movement was an early nineteenth-century German Romantic school of painters seeking to revive spirituality in art. Reacting against Neoclassicism, they drew inspiration from artists of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance.[4]

Left unsigned, it is difficult to determine the authorship, date, and exact context of production of our Chinese painting. While it faithfully reproduces Flatz’s composition, the style of this painting is far less Sinicised than works by the renowned early twentieth-century painter Chen Yuandu (1902-1967), who typically painted hanging scrolls on silk. Under the influence of Cardinal Celso Constantini (1876-1958), appointed in 1922 as the first Apostolic Delegate to China, Chen—born in Guangdong province and baptised as Luke Chen in 1932—played a key role in the Sinicization of Christian art in modern China.[5] As with Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) in eighteenth-century Beijing, this process involved adapting Christian themes and iconography to align with Chinese artistic traditions. Trained in traditional Chinese painting, Chen taught at the art department of the Catholic University in Beijing (Fǔrén Dàxué) until the government closed its Christian art classes in 1952. Based on a mid-nineteenth century composition, this painting on Korean paper—one of the preferred materials at the imperial court in the second half of the eighteenth century by European artists such as Castiglione (1688-1766), Jean Denis Attiret (1702-1768), and Louis Antoine de Poirot (1735-1813)—must predate the Christian paintings produced under Chen Yuandu’s influence.

The nineteenth century was a particularly turbulent period in Chinese history, characterised by widespread social and political upheaval that fuelled unrest in both urban and rural areas.[6] Aggressive foreign trade policies led to the first Opium War (1839-1844), which, following China’s defeat, opened the country to the West. This coincided with a renewed interest in sending Christian missionaries—including Catholics, Protestants, and Russian Orthodox—to China. These missionaries, who founded missions in fourteen provinces for the first time, aimed to establish congregations along with orphanages, hospitals, and schools.[7] They also entered the ‘business’ of running detoxification centres for local opium addicts, seizing the opportunity to proselytise and convert. It is likely that this painting was created during this period, either in Beijing or elsewhere, as the semi-foreign treaty port of Shanghai was emerging as a stronghold of Roman Catholicism. Located near the sea and committed to becoming China’s leading commercial centre, Shanghai’s relative safety following the Taiping Civil War (1850-1864) attracted numerous artists who were increasingly influenced by newly imported innovations such as photography, lithography, and mass-circulation newspapers. Its cosmopolitan environment fostered the emergence of a distinctive new painting style.[8]

Painters trained in centuries-old traditional techniques were quick to embrace these aesthetic innovations, catering to newly found patrons—wealthy Chinese, foreign merchants, and compradors (Chinese middlemen who operated between locals and foreigners)—far removed from the literati and connoisseurs of earlier times. Painters of this new style, later referred to as the School of Shanghai—such as Zhao Zhiqian (1829–1884) and the ‘Four Rens’, including the most famous, Ren Yi, better known as Ren Bonian (1840–1895)—embraced greater exaggeration of form and a brighter palette, prioritising visual impact over symbolism or narrative content. They responded to the new demands of the consumer market, which included paintings of Christian subjects, such as this depiction of St Mary Magdalene, created for a Catholic clientele. Instead of being commissioned, artworks were, for the first time, freely available for direct purchase in calligraphy and painting shops, as well as art supply shops known a ‘fan shops’, where artists could lodge and earn a living by selling their art directly.[9] This shift completely transformed the art business in China, as paintings were no longer reserved for the learned elites of the past but became accessible to anyone who could afford them. Lacking any accompanying calligraphy and bearing only a seal unusually stating the painting’s title rather than the painter’s signature or markers of ownership, it is likely that this depiction of St Mary Magdalene was made for Western consumption.