Chinese Madonna and Child Scroll Painting

How do you adapt to a new faith imported from a different culture? You make over their gods in your own image. The Chinese artist who painted this portrait of the Christian Madonna and Child has blended European and Asian features, clothing, and religious symbolism. In fact, the scroll appears to be a close copy of the famous 13th century church icon Salus Populi Romani (Protectress of the Roman People). However, it also shares similarities with images of Guanyin, the ancient Buddhist goddess of mercy and immortality.

Museum curator Berthold Laufer purchased this scroll in 1910 from a prominent family in Singan, China, who had owned it for many generations. The painting appears to bear the mark of Tang Yin, a famed artist who lived from about 1470 to 1523. Laufer thought the stamp was forged much later to protect the work's owners from religious persecution. But many scholars now believe that the stamp is authentic and consider the scroll to be visual proof of China's early exposure to Christianity.