Chinese Madonna with Child

The Chinese painting of the Madonna with child dates from the late Ming Dynasty and clearly reveals hybrid elements. The iconography is taken from the most venerated image Salus populi romani in the Borghese Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. This icon, dating from Late Antiquity, depicts Mary with the child Jesus held on her left arm. The child holds a book in his left hand and makes a blessing gesture with his right. The Chinese artist has extended the Roman portrait, which according to legend was painted by the Evangelist Luke, into a full length figure. The facial features, the fall of the folds of the clothes, the colours and hairstyle have been remodelled in the Chinese manner so that the Madonna and child Jesus remind one of the traditional image of the Bodhisattva of compassion (Guanyin), who is sometimes depicted with a child.

Chinese Madonna with Child, unknown artist, Shaanxi, China, water colour on silk, late Ming Dynasty; source: © The Field Museum, negative #A114604_02d, Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.