Art as a Pathway to God

This study investigates the significant role of art in Jesuit mission efforts in China (1552–1773). Archaeological materials and written texts reveal that Jesuits and Chinese Christians sustained their faith and expressed their devotion to God via art.

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This book integrates history, theology, and art and analyzes the Jesuits’ cross-cultural mission in late imperial China. Readers will find a rich collection of resources from historical sites, museums, manuscripts, and archival materials, including previous unpublished works of art. The production and circulation of art from different historical periods and categories show the artistic, theological, and missional values of Christian art. It highlights European Jesuits, Asian Christians, transnationalism, and gives voice to Chinese Christian women and their patronage of art in the seventeenth century. It offers a rare systematic study of the relation between art and mission history.