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Pozzo’s Treatise as a Workshop for the Construction of a Sacred Catholic Space in Beijing

Elisabetta Corsi

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Andrea Palladio (1554-1579) who, in his writings on architecture,was among the very first Renaissance theoreticians to address theissue of architectural necessità, therefore revealing the tensionbetween making theories and making buildings1.

The Jesuits, who wrote and theorized on almost all fields ofknowledge, made very little architectural theory, except for veryfew cases, that of Giuseppe Valeriano and Bartolomeo Amman-nati’s tract on the Temple of Salomon, included in Possevino’sBibliotheca Selecta, that of Juan Bautista Villalpando’s tract on theTemple of Salomon Apparatus Vrbis Templi Hierosolymitani2, com-posed with Jerónimo Prado – a text which proposed an ideal ratiostruendi according to biblical precepts – and that of the polymathAthanasius Kircher who, in Turris Babel, theorized on philosophi-cal architecture3. In spite of a scant interest in architectonical the-ory, they certainly made buildings out of necessità.

In the following paragraphs attention will be paid to the con-struction of a Catholic space in Beijing under the auspices of theSociety of Jesus. Constructing a Catholic space does not onlymean, I would argue, a physical space in which the experience ofthe sacred is articulated, but also implies the definition of a visu-al space where the ability to perceive and meditate on sacredimages (indicated in Chinese by muli目力), is oriented towardsadequate modalities of fruition.

For instance Francesco Sambiasi, SJ (1582-1649) in his Shui-hua erda 睡畵二答 (Two answers on sleep and images),points out that

eyes are the window of the soul and the eyelids are the doors that pro-tect this window. It should not constantly be open, lest light, smoke,rain, wind and dust may penetrate. Eyes should be employed to watchonly that which is good and desirable. Since they are not placed at theback but at the front of our body, eyes should look ahead, towards apath we have not yet walked. Human beings should not be satisfied withthe good endeavours they have already fulfilled , because they ought toalways go ahead. When his eyesight is defective, the human being can-not do anything good and this means that he is useless4.

Sambiasi’s remarks follow on the footsteps of Saint Augustinwho was the first to preach a subordination of visual arts to reli-gion, therefore establishing a tradition culminating with AntonioPalomino de Castro y Velasco’s El Museo Pictorico y Escala optica.In this long treatise, structured as a modern “common place

Architecture and experience

The role played by Jesuit missionaries as cultural mediatorsduring the early modern period has been object of recent, inno-vative scholarship that, particularly in the case of China, hasfocused on the transmission of a body of scientific knowledge,mainly mathematics and astronomy. Missionaries like MatteoRicci, Giulio Aleni, Ferdinand Verbiest and Adam Schall vonBell, to name just a few of the major characters, have attracted theinterest of specialists as well as non-specialist world-wide; interna-tional conferences and edited volumes have contributed to enrichour understanding of their academic background and scientificendeavours in China. Nonetheless, relatively less attention hasbeen paid to other fields of knowledge, perhaps of a more techni-cal and practical nature, but no less necessary to the fulfilment ofthe more “edifying” projects the Jesuits wanted to realise in Chi-na. This menial, empirical knowledge has to do with perspectivedrawing, architecture, engineering, carpentry and masonry.

These “arts” had a necessary application in what was one ofthe major Jesuit concerns, since it had a direct bearing on themain reason for their being in China, evangelisation. In order toevangelise and convert, they needed to equip the mission withappropriate spaces were liturgical practices as well as preachingcould adequately take place. Therefore, it was not just a matter of“edifying” souls, but also of “edifying” spaces, sacred Catholicspaces. The process of building a church involved a complex net-work of cooperation among Jesuit missionaries and local crafts-men, new techniques and styles had to be taught and learnt, mod-els and plans had to be adjusted to new circumstances.

Our understanding of these building processes is still too lim-ited, but perhaps different ways of reading the scanty sourcesavailable may offer new perspectives on our comprehension ofthe ways in which missionaries responded to the need for placeswhere converts could gather to celebrate mass and hear sermons.

I should like to begin this short essay by paying a tribute to

Fig. 211 - Perspectival view of the Bei Tang (?) in Beijing (Residence of theFrench Jesuits), water colour, 18th Century, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale.

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book” on virtually all aspects of visual culture, practical instruc-tions on oil painting are blended with optics, perspective andmathematical demonstrations, as well as moral and theologicalconsiderations on decoro, virtuous portrait painting and physiog-nomy.

An effective discipline of the eyesight, the most powerful ofhuman senses, can only be reached, according to Palomino,through sacred art: “Cual mejor, que aquella, cuyas Sagradas Fle-chas se introducen por el más poderosos de los Sentidos?”5.

Palomino agrees with the prevailing opinion about the superi-ority of art during the early Christianity, because of its capacity toentice the soul through the “tacit rhetoric of the brush” that por-traits the lives and martyrdom of Christian Saints.

Cual mejor, que aquella Arte, de cuyas mudas, si elocuentes Clausulas,usaba la Primitiva Iglesia, para enseñar a los fieles el camino de la Ver-dad, en los libros abiertos de la Historia Sagradas, Vidas y Martirios delos Santos, delineados con tacita Retorica de los Pinceles. Cual mejorque aquella que ha producido efectos tan maravillosos, convirtiendo losÁnimos mas endurecidos al suave Yugo de nuestra religión, y del temorde Dios6?

The importance of early Christianity as a spiritual and apos-tolic mandate is also present in the Constitutions of the Society ofJesus and can be appreciated from the choices Jesuit missionariesmade in terms of typology of ecclesial buildings and cultic images.

The Ignatian notion of plantatio ecclesiae (implanting thechurch) – apart from the intrinsic meanings associated with theapostolic evangelical model – can be quite literally understood asstemming from the need to provide an adequate setting forpreaching and liturgical services7. Indeed, architecture andiconography of the Catholic Reformation were directly linked toand inspired by Jesuit spirituality and devotional practices.

The question related to whether or not the “architect” as aprofessional role can be specifically identified in the Society,remains open to this day8.

Not only art historians have been concerned with this prob-lem, but also historians of science such as Ugo Baldini who, in hisessay on La formazione degli architetti gesuiti (secoli XVI-XVII)9,addresses the vexata quaestio regarding the existence of a “Jesuitstyle” in sacred architecture, paying attention to the formation ofa specific architectural expertise in the context of the teaching ofmathematics. He does so by suggesting that there is evidence to alarge number of architects active in the Society during the earlyperiod of its existence, a phenomenon that is due to the rapidexpansion of the Order and consequently to the need for new res-idences, colleges and churches. Still these professional figuresreceived their technical instructions either before joining theSociety or through personal studies and experience on theground, therefore out of necessità. Despite the active role played byarchitects such as Giovanni Tristano (1515-1575), the Jesuit Con-siliarius aedificiorum, Giuseppe Valeriano (1542-1596) and AndreaPozzo, their influence within the Society – Baldini argues – doesnot seem to have been so effective as to induce the formation ofan autonomous course of architectonical studies within the tenetsof the Ratio Studiorum. After 1660, architectural tasks were gener-ally endorsed by the professors of mathematics at the higher col-leges. Indeed, after the death of another professional belonging to

the first generation, Giovanni de Rosis (1538-1610) in 1610, theposition of Consiliarius aedificiorum (Censor General) for architec-tural projects, was held by the professor of mathematics at theCollegio Romano.

Baldini’s otherwise valuable attempt to look at the develop-ment of Jesuit architecture not just in terms of stylistic changesbut as a result of the major achievements in the fields of staticsand mechanics that took place during the first half of the XVIcentury, is flawed by the fact that he seems to pay very little atten-tion to the tremendous diffusion of Pozzo’s Perspectiva pictorum etarchitectorum, a living and endless source of instruction and inspi-ration, both in Europe and in overseas missions. Far from beingan isolated case (“A fine Seicento un Andrea Pozzo fu ancora nel-la linea sostanzialmente autodidatta”)10, Pozzo’s Treatise is one ofthe finest examples of scientific manual where didactic rigour ismatched by clarity of exposition, witness to a growing concern, inthe Society’s intellectual milieu, with the practical and experimen-tal applications of scientific knowledge11.

Workshops and academies

When Andrea Pozzo, arrived in Rome in 1681, a workshopwas established, at the Roman College, where he personallytaught architecture, painting and copper engraving12. Here is avivid description by Pozzo’s biographer, Filippo Baldinucci, onthe school’s manifold activities and international student com-munity.

…Stava esso in una vasta soffitta del Collegio del Gesù in Roma, nellaquale, entrando, averesti con sommo diletto veduto scolari di varienazioni tra loro distinti: alcuni studiare architettura, altri disegnare;questi intagliare in rame e quelli dipingere a olio e questi a tempera; ealtri stare intenti a mettere sotto il torchio quelle stampe che si veddero– e tuttora si vedono – ne’ belli e rari libri della sua Prospettiva13.

Pozzo’s initiative is in line with the resolution taken by thesuperiors of the Order early in 1612, to entrust the Jesuit mathe-matician and remarkably skilled artist, Orazio Grassi, with theestablishment of an “academy of architecture”, “perché la Com-pagnia ha necessità di persone intendenti di questa profes-sione”14. According to Richard Bösel, it is not certain whetherOrazio Grassi indeed gave birth to a Jesuit school of formation forthe trainees in engineering and architecture, yet it is significantthat two young Sicilian Jesuits had been summoned to Rome perimparar architettura15.

Baldinucci’s reference to the presence, at Pozzo’s academy, ofstudents from different countries, points out to the importanceof establishing workshops where empirical applications of thecluster of disciplines included in the so-called “mixed mathemat-ics” could adequately be learnt by young Jesuits in order to beemployed in the daily necessities of missionary life. As NoëlGolvers pointed out, with respect to the “Jesuit scientist”, he

was an experimenter and measurer in various branches of physics, withspecial attention for inventing and building instruments in optics,astronomy and mathematics, and who had a strong interest in the utili-tarian application of scientific knowledge, particularly in the areas ofengineering, invention and medicine16.

It is in this context, I believe, that we should consider the

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establishment, already by 1581, of a workshop in Luzon by Anto-nio Sedeño, the first Jesuit superior in the Philippines, where hetrained Chinese craftsmen to cut and carve stones and makefloors.

He [Sedeño] sought out Chinese painters and kept them in his housepainting images, not only for our own churches but for the others inManila and outside the city, and he encouraged encomenderos to displayin their churches the images that he himself provided. In this way headorned almost all the churches with images, the majority of which rep-resented the mother of God17.

This account shows that the contribution of local craftsmenwas essential to the completion of the Jesuit architectonical andartistic projects overseas. The need to make empirical knowledgepart of the educational programmes implemented by the Jesuitsin Asian missions is also evident from a letter that Pedro Gómezaddresses to the Superior General, Claudio Acquaviva, on 18th ofOctober, 1596, to inform him on the organization of the coursesat the College of Funai in Japan18. They had been arrangedaccording to precepts that would be later codified in the Ratio stu-diorum (1599), therefore giving priority to rhetoric, philosophyand theology, but with the addition of courses on oil painting,copper engraving, organ and harpsichord music.

Away from the centres of power, mechanical arts, generallynot included in the programmes of the seminaria nobilium run bythe Jesuits in Catholic Europe, could acquire, through the estab-

lishment of workshops, a higher statute by virtue of the amountof technical expertise that they implied and which was necessaryto the survival of the missionary community.

Although “architecture” as an independent field of knowl-edge, was not accorded a status within the official Jesuit curricu-lum but rather merged with optics, geometry, lineal perspectiveand acoustics in the realm of “mixed mathematics”, the Jesuitsplayed an active role in planning and constructing their resi-dences and churches, often employing lay brothers, or coadiutorestemporales, who travelled extensively, as in the above mentionedcases, to mission stations to train local craftsmen and builders orto establish workshops and schools. This may also be the casewith Ferdinando Bonaventura Moggi (1684-1761), active in Bei-jing at the construction, together with Giuseppe Castiglione(1688-1766), of Saint Joseph church in the residence of the Por-tuguese Jesuits in Beijing, and Francesco Folleri (1699-1766) who,having embarked with Moggi, spent a few years in Macao (1722-1725) and finally made his way to Beijing (1726).

The Portuguese establishment of Macao was already an impor-tant centre of transmission of European knowledge about build-ing and engineering as well as painting techniques, especially afterthe so called “Seminary of Painters”, “the largest mission art acad-emy ever founded in Asia”19, had been transferred there after1617, due to the anti-Christian persecutions in Japan.

During the years spent in Macao, Folleri built the Jesuit resi-

Fig. 212 - Saint Joseph, Macao.

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Figg. 213-214 - Plan of the interior of the Church of the Immaculate Conception,Nan Tang and of the sagrato.

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dence and adjoining chapel of Saint Joseph20, an elegant, single-nave structure, suitable for a seminary chapel, displaying impos-ing columns decorated with arma Christi, symbols of the Passionof Christ. (Fig. 209)

Although the model followed by Folleri seems to correspondto the church prototype most commonly associated with the Soci-ety, namely the single, wide-nave setting, in overseas missions, theancient basilica plan was also employed, due to its symbolical evo-cation of an early Christianity21. Nonetheless, this was not theresult of the application of a clearly established normative,because the document De ratione aedificiorum, promulgated in1558, was adamant in advocating simplicity and essentiality, butlacked indications as to which models were more suitable andtherefore ought to be followed. Given the developments of Jesuitarchitectural projects, it is clear that such recommendationswhere to be soon contradicted.

The present structure of Jesuit churches in Beijing complieswith this rule, even if the churches suffered major destruction andloss and underwent several reconstructions that significantlyaltered their original plans.

From the scanty sources available, it is highly probable that theearly plans of the three Jesuit churches largely corresponded tothe innovative single, wide nave model with two lateral rows of

chapels connected to each other. Further research is needed to beable to ascertain the different stages of deviation from the originalsettings.

The single-nave type of church architecture was introduced toPortugal by Felipe Terzo, an Italian architect who, in 1566,designed the church of São Roque to replace the more understat-ed primitive chapel and, from there, this prototype migrated tomission stations under the Padroado. The churches of the Por-tuguese Jesuits in Beijing, may have been built according to thatmodel.

The Jesuits favoured flat ceilings or low vaults because of thesuperior acoustic results they could achieve during sermons. Thispractical choice should also be seen in relation to the prolifera-tion of trompe l’oeil, painted ‘false domes’ and ceilings, such as theone executed by Giovanni Gherardini (1655-1723) at the BeiTang Church (Northern Church)22.

Illusionist painting in the style of the quadratura, which entailsa profound knowledge of linear perspective and optics, wasemployed in Jesuit churches from San Salvador of Bahía to Bei-jing23. The optical effect produced by real architecture extendingitself through painted architecture contributed to the formationof an experience of the sacred.

The transept and choir of Jesuit churches were normally

Fig. 215 - Saint Joseph, Beijing.

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Fig. 216 - Interior of Saint Joseph Church, Dong Tang.

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reduced because of the Constitutions’ prohibition (VI, III, 4) tosinging the Divine Office in choir. In spite of this proscription,the Jesuits were able to establish an outstanding musical tradi-tion, which is particularly significant from the liturgical point ofview.

The rather rustic character of the early Jesuit edifices may havegradually given way to more exuberant structures, even thoughsome preference for simple solutions continued to prevail in theJesuit discourse on architecture, thus allowing for full participa-tion of the faithful in liturgical action.

The sacramental symbolism of the church building wasaccorded preference; the Eucharist tabernacle was therefore, inmost circumstances, repositioned from one of the side chapels tothe high altar. This was usually surmounted by the IHS mono-gram to emphasise the mystical presence of Christ. A finely exe-cuted drawing showing part of the nave and the high altarpiece ofthe Nan Tang (Southern Church) belonging to the ArchivoHistórico Ultramarino in Lisbon, proves that such a pattern wasnot confined to churches inside Europe, but was employed inoverseas missions as well (Fig. 213)24.

These characteristics could be further enhanced on the occa-sion of para-liturgical practices such as the Forty-Hour Devotions,during which an altarpiece tableau depicting a very elaborate tab-ernacle in perspective was placed by the high altar for theEucharist adoration.

In the following paragraphs, I shall provide a sketch of themain stages of development of the Jesuit churches in Beijing,without dwelling on the complexities that a thorough reconstruc-tion would necessarily imply, because the churches were destroyedand rebuilt several times, and their plans altered significantly. Theproblem is all the more compounded by the fact that, especially inthe case of the Nan Tang (Southern Church) and the Dong Tang(Eastern Church), there is no consistency as to the names attrib-uted to those churches in Jesuit documents. Accounting for allthe variations encountered would fall beyond the scope of thispaper. Indeed, my purpose is to show how the Perspectiva pictorumat architectorum played a major role as a source of inspiration anda living workshop for experimenting architectonical ideas andapplications.

Sacred Catholic Spaces in Beijing: the Nan Tang (Southern Church) and Dong Tang (Eastern Church)

The Nan Tang is the oldest Catholic church in Beijing. Origi-nally a small chapel built by Matteo Ricci in 1605, it was conse-crated to Saint Mariae Maioris. It was replaced by a larger com-plex in 1610, a very articulated set of halls including the first pub-lic church, as well as Ricci’s grave. It was built on a plot of landwithin the Xuanwu gate and its construction entrusted to Sabati-no de Ursis (1575-1620), after Ricci’s death25. (Fig. 214) From thedetailed description accompanying this etching, so far the onlyvisual testimony of the earlier stage of construction of the NanTang, we learn that Ricci had wanted it not to resemble “templesof idols” but to be in accord with late Renaissance buildingmodes so as to comply with “tutte le regole dell’architettura dellenostre chiese”26. Fig. 217

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It was built seventy palms in length by thirty-five in width. It was built inobservance of all of the rules of architecture possible, with Chineseworkers who understood nothing about it. It had a façade (frontespicio),arches, cornices (cornichões) and lintels, all in the European manner (ao

modo europeo). The principal chapel (capella mór) was raised by threedegrees in relation to the body of the church. This building impressedthe Chinese far more than we had anticipated, and many came to see it;by doing so they began to know our Holy Law27.

“Ricci’s Church” was simply indicated as Tianzhu tang天天天(Catholic Church) by the Dijing jingwu lue 帝京竟物略 (A sketchof the scenery in the capital Beijing), a sort of guide book on theImperial capital composed by Liu Tong 劉侗 and Yu Yizheng 于奕正 and published in 1635.

Indeed, the description of the structure of the building and itsdecoration are particularly significant as they provide clues on theoriginal setting of the church.

The hall is inside the Xuanwu Gate in the corner of the east city wall.…To the left of the dwelling they built the Hall of the Lord of Heaven.The design of the hall is narrow and long, with the ceiling like a canopy,elaborately wrought windows, and elegant paintings done in the finestWestern style. At the upper end is a likeness of Jesus, a painting thatappears when you look at it to be a statue of a man somewhat over thir-

ty. His left hand grasps a map of the world and the fingers of the righthand are crossed as if he is discussing points in order and indicating ofwhich he is speaking…At the right is the Chapel of the Blessed Mother. The Mother looks like a young girl, and her hands hold a child, who isJesus. There are no seams in her garment, which covers her from headto foot, and there are votive lights as for the likeness of Jesus28.

Later on, availing himself of a plot of land donated by theemperor within the Imperial City, Adam Schall von Bell erected alarger temple in 1650. In his Historica Relatio, Schall provides sig-nificant information on the church: the length of the new churchwas 25.5 metres and was 14.5 metres wide and it was dedicated tothe Immaculate Conception. Adjacent to the main temple therewas the chapel dedicated to the Mother of God, Shengmu Tang 聖母堂. It was meant for the women who, according to Chinesecustom, had to worship apart from the men29. Given the exten-sion of the property, a residence as well as a storehouse and alibrary, could also be built within the church premises.

One of the already mentioned drawings held at the ArquivoHistòrico Ultramarino shows the plan of the church (Fig. 210-211)30 and provides a detailed description of the articulation ofthe connected lateral chapels (capellette). The church was encom-passed by a wall, opening on to the street through three gates incompliance with Chinese architectural modes.

Up to ca. 1703, the year in which the church of the Holy Sav-iour, belonging to the French Jesuits opened, the Nan Tang wasknown as the Xi Tang (Western Church). Restoration of thischurch begun in 1705 and was made possible by an Imperialdonation. The new temple was completed in 1711. It was againdestroyed by two earthquakes and a fire in 1775, rebuilt withfunds provided by the Qianlong Emperor and completed in 1776.

The Dong Tang (Eastern Church), originally probably knownas 壽善堂 Shoushan Tang, was located outside of the ImperialCity, in Ganyu Hutong. Being established by Ludovico Buglio(1606-1682) and Gabriel de Magalhães (1610-1677), the churchwas destroyed by the earthquake of 1720 and was rebuilt the fol-lowing year by Ernbert Xaver Friedel (1673-1743) and FernandoBonaventura Moggi (1684-1761). The pictorial decorations hadbeen executed by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) and were lostwith the destruction of the church by Imperial order in 1811.They consisted of a Nativity and a painting of the Sacred Heart.

As Superior of Saint Joseph residence, Ernbert Xaver Friedel,a skilled topographer and cartographer, superintended to the fab-brica and at the same time executed maps upon the emperor’srequest. This special condition may have allowed him to gainaccess to court and therefore obtain, maybe from Nian Xiyao 年希堯 himself, a copy of the 視學 (The Science of Vision), theChinese partial translation of Pozzo’s Perspectiva Pictorum et Archi-tectorum that Nian had printed in 1729 (a second edition followedin 1735), having learnt linear perspective from Giuseppe Cas-tiglione himself31. Friedel sent a copy of it to the Jesuit confessorto the Emperor Charles VI, Vitus Toenneman, and it is now heldat the Oesterreichsche Nationalbibliothek in Vienna. There is anote attached to the book in which Friedel is indicated as Sinarumimperatoris Musaei Mathematici Director32.

The drawings held at the Archivo Histórico Ultramarino inLisbon (Figg. 3-5) show a large structure encompassed betweentwo low, flanking towers with two orders of pilasters, volutes and

Fig. 218 -

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cartouches. The church interior was outfitted with a lavish highaltar and a false, painted dome whose prototypes are to be foundin engravings contained in Pozzo’s Treatise. They have been, sofar, referred to as images showing the Church of Nossa Senhorada Assunçao, one of the names through which the Nan Tang wasknown33. A letter by Moggi to the Superior General, Michelange-lo Tamburini, dated 8th November 1729, may prove that the draw-ings have been executed by Moggi, if we assume that the one thathe calls St Joseph’s (“Chiesa di San Giuseppe”), Nossa Senhorada Assunçao and the Nan Tang are indeed the same church.

...In vigore della promessa fatta alla P.V. stavo prendendo le misure efacendo altre preparazioni necessarie per la delineazione di questaChiesa di San Giuseppe, per trasmetterla a V.P., quando il P. Domeni-co Pinhero, Superiore di questa Residenza, mi suggerì come li parevamolto convenevole che hancora si mandassero li disegni della medesi-ma Chiesa al Serenissimo Re di Portogallo; quando ciò successe già iltempo era breve per fare raddoppiati esemplari di disegni in prospettivacome havevo pensato di fare, e per questo veddi non havere altro rime-dio che far puramente disegni geometrici, e se bene questi non possonomostrare giustamente l’effetto che fa l’opera reale, il buon gusto di V.P.saprà immaginarsi quello che manca ai disegni i quali vengono rimessia V.P. dal P. Superiore…Il tempo poi non mi permesse di fare due esem-plari dell’Altare Maggiore, del quale l’unico che feci fu insieme conquelli diretti a Sª. Maestà; vero è che per essere il detto Altare quanto altutto insieme simile a quello della Cappella del nostro S.to Luigi Gon-zaga, non pareva che fosse per fare mancanza, nulla di meno se il temponon mi havesse tradito, non potevo in alcun modo scusarmi dal lavoro,per far vedere alla P.V. le mutanze che furono fatte nel medesimo altareper accomodarlo al luogo, e al Paese; questo medesimo hancora si puoledire di tutta la Chiesa, la quale in quello che difere dal gusto Architet-tonico di Europa, e in grande parte disimulato per accomodarlo algenio Cinese, che gusta di molteplicità di colonne, multiplicità di lavorie insomma tutto in copia, e le fabriche che noi chiamiamo gravi esolide, loro le stimano ordinarissimi…Per dire alcuna cosa di quelle chenon si possono esprimere nei disegni, dico che tutto l’interiore dellaChiesa fatta di medesima vista che se fosse di bellissimi marmi misti ebronzi dorati, e per beneficio delle vernici del Paese e perizia dei Cinesiin preparare i fondi lisci, hancora tocandole con mano, paiono verepietre per essere tutte dipinte al naturale. Le volte sono tutte dipinte dalFratello Giusepe Castiglioni con molta vagezza, ma sopra tutto la Cupo-la che dipinse in un telaro piano…Li due Campaniletti laterali della facciata non sono hancora in opra,perché nel tempo che si fabricava la medesima facciata mancaronomateriali e argento, e successivamente restarono a dietro per dar luogoad altre cose stimate più necessarie. Nei quattro angoli interiori che for-ma la Croce della Chiesa devono essere sospese quattro lampade e giàne li due angoli comunicanti con la Cappella Maggiore sono poste duedi disegno Europeo, alla moderna e fanno bella vista. Li candelieri del-l’altare sono al modo Romano e furono lavorati in Cantone veramentecon eccellenza34.

This letter is particularly significant because it provides valu-able information on the process of construction and decorationof this church.

Moggi’s description of the church façade with the two belltowers (campaniletti), and of the sumptuous trompe l’oeil decora-tion of the interior, resembling colorful marble and gilded bronze(marmi misti e bronzi dorati), surmounted by a false dome executedby Castiglione, indeed provides a textual correspondence to thedrawings.

A very interesting passage regards the high altar, which wasconceived by Moggi on the basis of the engraving contained in

Perspectiva pictorum and reproducing the altar of Saint Luis Gon-zaga at Saint Ignatius’. Moggi says that alterations had to be madein order to make it suitable to the Chinese taste (accomodarlo alluogo e al Paese), but he does not seem to regret having to disguisethe European architectonic taste by multiplying columns andindulge in artful decorations to accommodate it to the Chineseingenuity (disimulato per accomodarlo al genio Cinese).

Finally, the reference to the altar chandeliers that had beenmanufactured in Canton, suggests the existence of a network ofworkshops, mainly in South China, that catered to the needs ofthe Jesuit mission.

The Bei Tang (Northern Church)

The first site of the Bei Tang was on the west bank of LakeCanchikou. The plot of land was donated by the Kangxi Emper-or as a token of gratitude to the French Jesuits Jean de Fontaney(1643-1710) and Claude de Visdelou (1656-1737) who, by makinguse of quinine from Peru, treated him for malaria.

When the church was completed, Emperor Kangxi donatedtwo ceremonial scrolls to mark the occasion. The scrolls were enti-tled ‘The True Origin of all Things” and bore the Emperor’s owncalligraphy35.

The church took four years to complete and was later knownas St. Saviour’s. It was consecrated on the 9th of December, 1703,and included an astronomical observatory and a library wheremost of the European books collected by the Jesuits were held36.After the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, the Lazariststook over the premises, but in 1827 the church was confiscated bythe Dao Guang Emperor. The property was then sold to a courtofficial named Yu, who ordered the church to be demolished. Itwas eventually returned to the Catholic Church in 1860 and sixyears later a new church was edified. In 1887 the imperial house-hold extended the boundaries of the palace compound, so thatthe Northern Church fell within the confines of the ForbiddenCity. For this reason, the church had to be moved to its presentlocation in Xishiku. A new church along with a bishopric resi-dence, a seminary and a nursery were erected on the same year.The church was besieged and its bell-tower damaged during theBoxer Uprising.

After 1860 the Bei Tang became the cathedral church of thediocese as it replaced the Nan Tang as bishopric. In 1985 thechurch was returned to the Catholics and reopened in Decemberof that year. In 1989 the Beijing Diocesan Seminary was trans-ferred to the Bei Tang but it was again moved in 1992 to Pingfang,east of the city.

A rare painting showing a bird’s-eye view of a church complexin Beijing held at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, was identi-fied by Noël Golvers as the Bei Tang37 (Fig. 208).

The pictorial decoration of the church had been executed byGiovanni Gherardini, who had been introduced to the art ofquadratura by Angelo Michele Colonna and Agostino Mitelli. Ina document attributed to Jean-François Foucquet there is a briefdescription of his work.

He left in their church [of the French missionaries] many paintings ofwhich the most beautiful is a tableau depicting St. Michael who, holding

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a spear in his hand, is about to thrust a demon, while he stamps his footon his head. The angel seems to have just descended from heaven andstill maintains his body suspended in the air38.

A lengthier testimony of the fresco paintings, including a falsedome, executed by Gherardini, is in letter by Pierre Jartoux, dat-ed 20 August, 1704, to Jean de Fontaney.

Le plafond est tout à fait peint. Il est divisé en trois parties, le milieureprésente un dôme tout ouvert, d’une riche architecture; ce sont descolonnes de marbre qui portent un rang d’arcades surmonté d’unebelle balaustrade d’un beau dessein, avec des vases à fleurs fort bienplacés; on voit au dessus le Père éternel assis dans les nues sur un grouped’Anges, et tenant le monde en sa main39.

Private chapels for the Manchu Royal Family

In the document attributed to Joseph Suares (1656-1736), Com-pendio da historia de como varias pessoas da familia imperial Tartato-Sini-ca abraçarão a religião christam, progressos que n’ella fizerão, e como forãodesterradas por esta causa pelo imperador Yumchim40, there is a longdescription of the chapels built for the Su Nu family (Fig. 215)

A chapel had been built by Ku Er chen, the eleventh son of SuNu, in his palace and it was reserved for his wife, his daughtersand other household members41. A letter by Parrenin42 shows thatthese private chapels were indispensable because high rank ladieswould not enter churches where Christian women took part inbiannual services.

John Witek was the first to highlight the activity of GiuseppeCastiglione as painter in the service of the Su Nu family43. In factthe document presents a brief description of his endeavours:

And now that we come to the question of the chapels, I must say some-thing in this respect so that you can understand the fervour of theseprinces. They already had six such chapels in the residences of thesemost noble and most fervent neophytes. The largest chapel was the onebelonging to Paul [Shu Er Chen] and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Itwas built with care, decorated and gilded with grandeur. In the Euro-pean style retablo, there are three very elegantly decorated panels, by thehand of Br. Joseph Castiglione. The panel in the middle represents theHoly Trinity and at both sides stand a panel of Our Lady and one ofSaint Joseph…

The chapel hosted the Blessed Sacrament so as to allow thePrincesses to receive the Communion without having to attendservice at the Church of Our Lady, near the Jesuit College, anaction prevented by their rank.

A lavish banquet, attended by a large number of converts ofboth sexes [f. 7a], was hosted by Paul on the day the chapel wasconsecrated and four Fathers ministered the ceremony.

The first Mass to be celebrated in this chapel took place on thesolemnity of the Holy Trinity, the 11th of June of 1724. Unfortu-nately no music accompaniment could be provided.

But it was compensated for by the most tender whispers and tears ofdevotion of those ladies, which moved the celebrant and the two altar-boys. During that mass fifty nine ladies and maidens received Com-munion, [while] female servants who could not communicate on thatday, did so [f. 8a] the following days [either in the chapel] or, most cer-tainly, in the Church of Our Lady that stands near the College.

The solemnity with which the chapel had been consecrated,induced other blood princes to emulate Shu Er Chen. More

sacred images and retablos were commissioned as new chapelswere built for the converted princes of the Su Nu family.

The text draws emphasis on the cult rendered to holy images,especially those called “imagem mayor”, probably large-sizeimages framed in “retablos de Architectura Europeya” (European-style architectonical retablos). The Manchu princesses are reportedto be firm in devotion and piety through fasts, prayers, alms andspiritual exercises.

Conclusions

The role played by the missionaries of the Society of Jesus ascultural mediators, does not only extend to scientific knowledgebut also to the fields of mechanic and liberal arts. In order toequip their residences with spaces where liturgy and lecturescould adequately take place, they established a complex networkof workshops where local artists, craftsmen and engineers wereemployed to be instructed in stone carving, copper engraving andcarpentry, under the supervision of Jesuit artists.

The China mission was at the heart of the Jesuit missionaryenterprise; the Jesuit churches built in Beijing during the XVIIand XVIII centuries, with their sumptuous Baroque decorations,drew the admiration of Chinese, Korean and foreign visitors. Inthis context, Andrea Pozzo’s Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum,had been an endless source of inspiration. Thanks to its remark-able clarity and coherence, it made available a host of visual mate-rials that have been reproduced, not only in China, but in over-seas missions worldwide.

Castiglione, declaring himself a pupil of Pozzo, even wanted toimitate the editorial success of the book: a volume of engravings,reproducing his paintings executed in Beijing, was to be sent tothe Superior General of the Order. It was Castiglione’s hope thatthe book might be used in Europe by apprentices in the art ofpainting and that the revenue produced by its sale be employed tosupport the China mission44.

NOTES

1 For a detailed treatment of this problem, see PAYNE 1999, pp. 170-213.2 On the tract composed by Giuseppe Valeriano and Bartolomeo Amman-

nati, An aedificandi ratio petit debeat at ex uno Vitruvio. Num item ex Salomonici Tem-pli, quae olim extabat structurai, which was included in Antonio Possevino’s Bib-liotheca Selecta, tome 2, book XV, De mathematica, chapter 16, see KIENE 1996),pp. 183-196 plus 11 plates. On Villalpando see LARA 1999.

3 On Kircher’s architectonical theorizations see PERUGINI 1986, pp. 195-209.4 ‘眼著心之牖也眼上啓閉者護牕之闥也牕勿常啓惟以納光煙雨風塵

閉勿使入惟吾之所欲視善眼不生于後生于前為矚未到之程非戀已成之妹教人進也人廢眼無復前塗是等廢人人廢傷哉. (f. 3a-b). For a lengthy dis-cussion of this issue, please see my forthcoming essay “Our little daily death”.Francesco Sambiasi’s treatise on sleep and images in Chinese.

5 The full title reads: El Museo pictórico y Escala óptica Tomo I, Teórica de la Pin-tura en que se describe su Origen, Essencia, Especies, y Qualidades, con todos los demás,Accidentes, que la enriquecen, è ilustran. Y se preban, con demonstraciones Mathemati-cas, y Filosoficas, sus más radicales Fundamentos, Madrid, Lucas Antonio de Bed-mar, 1715, I, p. 73.

6 Ibid. The text has been slightly emended.

243

7 See for example S. Ignatii epistolae et instructiones, Monumenta Ignatiana,series prima, VIII, 714: Juan Nuñez to St. Ignatius, 14 October 1554.

8 Richard Bösel has advocated the significance of “Jesuit architecture” as ahistoriographical category in which common denominators have to be under-stood more in terms of assurance of a “corporate identity” than as a universallyapplied normative. BöSEL 2005, pp.65-122.

9 BALDINI 2000, pp. 99-110. See also, in the same collection of essays, Espertigesuiti nelle visite alle acque del ferrarese dopo la devoluzione (1599-1611), pp. 111-123.

10 BALDINI 2000, p. 109, n. 22.11 Pozzo’s Perspectiva is preceded by Jean Dubreuil’s La Perspective pratique,

published in 1642. For a cogent analysis of the Perspectiva in the context of theJesuit mathematical culture, see CAMEROTA 2010, pp. 25-36.

12 On the importance of Pozzo’s workshop at the Roman College see BöSEL,SALVIUCCI INSOLERA 2010, pp. 201-203.

13 FILIPPO S. BALDINUCCI, Vite di Artisti dei secoli XVII-XVIII: prima edizioneintegrale del codice Palatino 565, ad vocem Vita del padre Pozzo Gesuita, cit. bySALVIUCCI INSOLERA 2010, p. 201.

14 Letter by Claudio Acquaviva to the Provincial in Rome, 1st of November,1612, ARSI; Rom. 16, f. 160, cit. in BöSEL 2004a, p. 29.

15 BöSEL 2004a, ibid.16 GOLVERS 2003, p. 15.17 PEDRO CHIRINO, SJ, Relación de las Islas Filipinas, Rome, 1604, p. 37. See

José Regalado Trota, Imaging Our Lady in Sixteenth-century Manila: Nuestra Senio-ra del Rosario de La Naval, in http://www.cilam.ucr.edu/diagonal/issues/2008/TrotaJose2.pdf (read on 30th September 2010), p. 3.

18 Letter in ARSI, JapSin 13, I, ff. 7-8.19 BAILEY 2001, p.53 (52-81). The “Seminary of Painters” established by

Alessandro Valignano in the seminary at Arima in 1583, had been directed bythe brother coadjutor Giovanni Niccolò (1563-1626) and soon became a majorcentre of diffusion of European visual culture in Asia.

20 ARSI, JapSin 199 I, f. 324.21 For a case study in colonial New Spain, see BARGELLINI 2008, pp. 143-155.22 On Gherardini’s pictorial decorations of the Bei Tang, see CORSI 1999,

pp. 103-122.23 See Corsi (2010), pp. 93- 100, 177-181.24 A.H.U. Cart. Ms.-XI CM 758.25 The plan here reproduced is an etching held at ARSI, Fondo Gesuitico,

Collegia, 1382, busta 18, 1-2.26 ARSI, JapSin 14, II, f. 234v. See also TACCHI VENTURI 1911-1913, II, p. 484.

De Ursis had spent a year, from 1600 to 1601 at the Academy of Mathematics

run by Clavius at the Roman College, where he may have acquired the rudi-ments of architectural drawing.

27 Cit. by BAILEY 2001, p. 94. Original text in TACCHI VENTURI 1911-13, I, p.613, n. 2.

28 Translated by KING 1998, pp. 49-51.29 SCHALL VON BELL 1665, p. 232.30 Lisbon, Arquivo Històrico Ultramarino, CARTm, 098, D.760. The plan

of the interior is 103,3 x 50,2 cms and the altar of the Annunciation indicatedby B in the captions may be the one to which the Dijing jingwu lyue refers. Thechurch boasted a laudatio of the missionaries achievements, written by theEmperor in the form of couplets hanging on both sides of the church mainentrance (indicated by NO on the sagrato map).

31 See CORSI 2004.32 The Mathematical Museum at the Imperial Court was an establishment

somewhat resembling Kircher’s Museum at the Roman College: a collection ofcuriosities and scientific instruments, for the amusement of the mind and theeyes of the Chinese Emperor. I should like to express my thanks to Dr. …of theAustrian National Library.for providing me with this information.

33 The church drawings are numbered 758 and 759, while the map is num-bered 760.

34 ARSI, JapSin, 184, f. 41rv.35 A copy of the inscription is at ARSI, G.F., Cassetto 3, f.1. 36 On the present state and location of the library holdings see Li Guoqing

李國慶 e Sun Liping 孫利平 (2003), 1, pp. 214-256.37 GOLVERS 1993, fig. 43.38 Rome, Archive of the Sacra Congregazione per l’Evangelizzazione dei

popoli or “De Propaganda Fide”, S.C. Indie Orientali, Cina Misc. 2, f. 443v (ff.411-46); another copy BNF, Mss. Fr. 25670, 1-44 (copy).

The attribution of this document to Foucquet was made by WITEK 1982,pp. 29 and 356.

39 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, écrites par des Missionnaires de la Compagnie deJésus. Mèmoires de la Chine, vol X, Lyon, 1819, p. 3.

40 Lisbon, Biblioteca Nacional, A. 2-32. The manuscript can be dated after1710. The inventory reports: Factos occorridos na primeira metade do seculo XVIII, -Doação do Dr. A. Ribeiro dos Santos - 1 vol. In 4.° de 18 fl., encad.

41 The story of Su Nu’s sons conversion is narrated by WITEK 1993.42 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, vol. III, pp. 366- 481, and especially p. 372.43 A few lines of this text are cited by WITEK 1993 with some flaws, on p. 271,

n. 13.44 ARSI, JapSin, 184, 37r-v.