A Sino-Portuguese two saints (St. Luke? and St. John the Evangelist?)

These two carved and polychrome wooden sculptures depicting male Saints are a rare testimony to seventeenth century, European commissioned, Chinese made Christian art.

Depicted as barefoot seated figures, both Evangelists are bald-headed and feature closed eyes as if in meditation. They are attired in long tunics fastened with belts at the waist. Over the open tunic, the left-hand side figure wears a voluminous mantle fastened by a square-shaped clasp and rests the left hand on the left knee while holding the draping cape over the opposite leg. The second figure, to the right, rests the face on the left palm while holding a box-like book (a codex) with the other.

The most unusual stylistic feature of both images is the angular rendition of the drapery folds, and particularly of the billowing fabric over the shoulders. Given their unfinished, hollowed backs, they must have been placed high in a church, in individual alcoves, and it is possible that they were once part of a group representing the four Evangelists and their attributes, the latter now lost or perhaps originally depicted in an alternative medium or form. The figure on the left possibly represents Saint Luke, who is sometimes portrayed beardless but often with a book, while the one on the right, hand over a book (the Gospel), may be identified as Saint John, the youngest of the four Evangelists.

The sculptures were likely made by a Chinese sculptor practised in the carving of large figures destined for Daoist and Buddhist temples. Our bald-headed Evangelists of serene meditative expressions, being similar to portrayals of the Eighteen Arhats (or luóhàn). In Chinese Buddhism, these are seen as the enlightened disciples of the Buddha (arhat in Sanskrit) and are venerated for their wisdom and spiritual achievements. Free from worldly cravings, the luóhàn are tasked with protecting the Buddhist faith. They are typically portrayed as meditative elders - bald, eccentric vagabonds and beggars with sagging cheeks and high noses, draped in long robes of characteristic folds. As is the case with one of our figures, in some depictions, luóhàn are holding Buddhist scriptures scrolls (sutras). Our sculptures can also be compared with images of Daoist immortals, known as xiān, particularly that of Laozi, a semi-legendary ancient Chinese philosopher and author of one of the foundational Daoism texts, who is often depicted as an older, bald-headed man.

As with Christian Saints, Buddhist luóhàn and Daoist xiān embody wisdom, spiritual strength and enlightenment, their age and appearance symbolising their deep knowledge and mastery over life and spiritual matters. What stands out from the Evangelists postures and physical traits is a latent, yet meaningful, ambiguity. This either results from the master carver experience and familiarity with Buddhist and Daoist iconography or reflects instead a deliberate attempt by the European commissioning patron to adapt Christian subjects to Chinese sensibilities—a form of visual or artistic accommodation, as was conceived by the Society of Jesus.[1]

Very little Chinese Christian sculpture from the early modern period, made under European patronage in the context of missionary activity, survives. This shortage of extant examples hinders a better-informed art historical analysis that could help in providing the exact context for the commissioning and manufacturing of these two Evangelists. Nonetheless, comparison between the two figures and the bronze sculptures ornamenting the façade of the so-called St. Paul’s Church ruins in Macao, provides significant parallels that enable a more accurate chronology and geography. The only surviving structure of the former Jesuit College of the Mother of God, or ‘Colégio da Madre de Deus’ - the so-called College of St. Paul – corresponds to the façade of the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady (Igreja da Assunção de Nossa Senhora)’.[2] The richly decorated building, carved in stone by local Chinese, and possibly Japanese sculptors and stonemasons, is considered one of the most relevant testimonies to European and Eastern artistic confluence, particularly in relation to Christian art in the Portuguese-ruled Asian territories. The temple, as conceived by the Italian Jesuit and architect Carlo Spinola (1564-1622) between 1601-1603, was consecrated in 1603, but the carved façade construction was not begun until 1636.

The bronze figures, which include the four canonised and beatified  founders of the Society of Jesus, as well as images of the Virgin of the Assumption, the Child Jesus Salvator Mundi, and the Holy Spirit dove, were cast by Manuel Tavares Bocarro (ca. 1605-1652), master of the Macao Foundry.[3] Born in Goa, during his long stay in Macao (1625-1652) Bocarro cast numerous artillery pieces in iron, bronze, and copper, undoubtedly assisted by Chinese specialist metallurgy craftsmen. While unequivocally cast by him, the monumental figures were likely modelled by local artisans due to their evident Chinese stylistic features. They were once gilt, excepting for their heads and hands, which were painted in skin tones. Beyond the rendition of the faces, and despite their hieratic stance, possibly emulating European wooden prototypes, their Chinese character can be assessed by the angularity of the draperies. These dynamic folds of insinuated movement, seem almost alive. The billowing and flowing folds wrapping the Salvator Mundi particularly, are comparable to those in our wooden sculptures.

            By 1576, on the establishment of the Diocese of Macao, nineteen years after the official founding of the city, the structure necessary for the launching of missionary activities in Southern China was already in place.[4] It included four churches, the university-level Saint Paul’s College, oldest Western-type university in the Far-East, the Senate, two hospitals, and the ‘Santa Casa da Misericórdia’, a lay charity institution. For the Society of Jesus priests, Macao served as the base for the learning of the Asian languages essential for evangelisation, and as a launching pad to the missionary activity throughout Asia.

Led by Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), the spreading of Christianity in China began in Zhaoqing (Province of Guangdong) followed by Nanchang (Province of Jiangxi capital city), Nanjing (capital city of Jiangsu), and finally in 1601, by the Imperial capital, Beijing. From approximately 2,500 converts in the early seventeenth century, and despite severe persecution (1664-1671), by the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) collapse, Chinese Christian converts amounted to more than 100,000. This increase resulted not only from Jesuit evangelisation but also from the activity of other Religious Orders settled in China, such as the Dominicans and the Franciscans, from 1631 and 1633 respectively. Freedom of worship to all Christians in the Empire was granted by the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661-1722) in 1692, two years after the founding of the Dioceses of Nanjing and Beijing. In the early nineteenth century, the number of converts had reached 200,000, eventually reaching 300,000 by 1840. This steady increase triggered a growing demand for religious iconography, namely that produced by local Chinese artists.

These two sculptures do likely date from the earlier period of the missionary activity developed in coastal Southern China provinces. Scientific tests carried out by CIRAM, a renowned French laboratory specialised in scientific analysis of artworks, have reinforced the sculptures proposed dating while simultaneously providing the xylological identification of the raw material.[5] Regarding the former, radiocarbon dating testing has revealed a 95.4% probability that the wood for the figures was felled between 1414 and 1466. However, it should be noted that the samples were taken from the central core of the trunk, which is older; the established dating may therefore be affected by the ‘old wood effect’ (effet vieux bois in French), meaning the tree’s felling could have occurred various decades later. A felling in the late sixteenth century would better align with the stylistic analysis and the historical missionary activity context in China. It is also possible that the master carver used older or recycled material.

The wood was identified as Tilia japonica, commonly known as Japanese lime or Japanese linden, a tree native to eastern China and Japan. This medium-sized shade tree grows up to twenty meters in height, and its wood is easy to work and ideal for detailed carving, having a tendency not to crack if properly dried. It is often used for furniture making and, due to its straight grain, for veneering.