This statue was seized in Uragami, Nagasaki Prefecture,in 1856, Ming-Qing dynasty, 17th century. It was then preserved by the Nagasaki Magistrate’s Office. Currently the statue is kept safely in Tokyo National Museum.
It depict the feminine form of Koyasu Kannon (子安観音), the god that represent birth and child rearing. Despite bearing the resemblance of “Byakue Kannon”, she holds a child in her hand. To the Christians the statue resembles Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus. The white robe, according to Christianity, represents purity and righteousness. It also symbolizes salvation.
During the mid-17th century, outlawed Christians created statues of Virgin Mary (Mother of Jesus) disguised as the Buddhist deity Kannon (Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin). These statues are known as Maria Kannon. Maria Kannon was made or altered to look like Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), however they were not worshipped as Kannon. This act of concealment allowed the Christian to practice their faith in secret, minimizing the chance of being exposed. Since their faith were forced to go underground, the follower usual practice their faith in a hidden room, a cave or in a forest.
There are a number of Maria Kannon statues, which includes “Byakue Kannon”, “Jibo Kannon”, Guanyin (Kannon) and Child of many different sizes. Some of which even include hidden image of the “cross” within them and some have it at the back of the statue. With the presence of the cross within the statue it indirectly imply that the statue is in fact constructed for Christian and not Buddhist despite it resembling Buddhist deity Kannon. The Christians would honor this statue by silently praying to Mother Mary. With such “trick” it creates a sense of relief for the follower. To the outsider it appears as a Buddhist statue but to the outlawed Christian, it appears as an object of Christ faith. Which successfully also fooled the government and help them to keep their faith hidden and alive.
This statue was seized in Uragami, Nagasaki Prefecture,in 1856, Ming-Qing dynasty, 17th century. It was then preserved by the Nagasaki Magistrate’s Office. Currently the statue is kept safely in Tokyo National Museum.
In 1549, missionaries brought Christianity to Japan. As Christianity gain its popularity among the population, Tokugawa Ieyasu began to fear that the Christian will be more loyal to their faith as compared to his shogunate.
In 1612, Christianity was banned in the country and whoever practiced it were persecuted, often with violence, and as the days pass the methods got fiercer. Eventually, Christianity was banned for over two centuries during the Tokugawa Era, also known as Edo Period (1603-1868). Authorities were eager to eradicate this foreign religion that they execute and imprisoned thousands of Christians, and even to the extent of ordering all families to register with local Buddhist parishes.
To deal with the situation, the Christian had to practice their faith in secret to avoid being punished. Therefore, in order to conceal their faith, Christian were forced to keep a low profile and practice their faith in private. These Christians were eventually known as Kakure Kirishitan, or Hidden Christian. Since then their faith were forced to go underground, and follower had to practice it in secret.
During the mid-17th century, outlawed Christians created statues of Virgin Mary (Mother of Jesus) disguised as the Buddhist deity Kannon (Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin). These statues are known as Maria Kannon. Maria Kannon was made or altered to look like Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), however they were not worshipped as Kannon. This act of concealment allowed the Christian to practice their faith in secret, minimizing the chance of being exposed.
There are a number of Maria Kannon statues, which includes “Byakue Kannon”, “Jibo Kannon”, Guanyin (Kannon) and Child of many different sizes. Some of which even include hidden image of the “cross” within them.
Dehua Kilns Maria Kannon, the feminine form of Koyasu Kannon (子安観音), is the god that represents birth and child rearing. Despite bearing the resemblance of “Byakue Kannon”, she carry a child in her hand. To the Christians the statue resemble Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus. The white robe, according to Christianity, represents purity and righteousness. It also symbolize salvation.
The statue is made from Dehua White Porcelain, known as “hakugorai” or “Korean White Ware” in Japanese. It is the porcelain that give the statue its colour. As the name of the material suggests, the statue is being produced not in Japan but in Dehua Kilns, located in Fujian Province. In other words, the Dehua Kilns Maria Kannon is being illegally imported from China.
One of the main reasons of the use of Dehua Kilns porcelain is that the white is the colour commonly used during rituals observance. To add on, white to the Chinese, the manufacturing country, symbolizes filial piety, death and mourning, which is why it is the common colour for statues and incense burners.
At the back of the statue, a hidden Christian cross can be found. With the presence of the cross within the statue it indirectly imply that the statue is in fact constructed for Christian and not Buddhist despite it resembling Buddhist deity Kannon. The Christians would honor this statue by silently praying to Mother Mary. With such “trick” it creates a sense of relief for the follower. To the outsider it appears as a Buddhist statue but to the outlawed Christian, it appears as an object of Christ faith. Which successfully also fooled the government and help them to keep their faith hidden and alive.
References & Further Reading:
Mark Schumacher. Virgin Mary & Kannon, Two Merciful Mothers (1995 – 2014), Retrieved from November 3, 2015, from
This is a delay post, as initially my group members and I didn’t want to reveal everything about our exhibition before the day we showcase it. My concept for the activity area was derived from board games such as Cluedo and Escape Room. Collectively, as a group, our concept was to create a memorable learning experience for our visitors at the same time unveil the history of “Hidden Christianity in Japan”, a culture known to many but understand by few. The setting of the area will bring our visitor back to 1600s, this will allow them to have a 4-dimension experience.
How will the activity be carried out?
The whole activity, which is being held within the exhibition premise, will last for 10 minutes. Due to space constraint, every 10 minutes interval, a maximum number of 5 visitors will be allowed into the premise.
Visitors will be given the roles of government officers and they will be tasked to search items relating to Christianity within the premise. These “Government officers” will be “armed” with UV lights and a scroll like “search list” which will contain clues on the hidden items.
A total of 10 items will be hidden within the premise, of which only 4 are related, the rest are just to confuse our “officers”. In order to complete their task, the “officers” will need to recover all 4 hidden items that are related to Christianity. The 4 hidden items will have a sticker that has a cross using UV ink, therefore, our “officers” will need to utilize their UV light to identify the “real items”
To ensure that all visitor, regardless of whether they have prior knowledge to Christianity or not, are able to find the 4 hidden items, the clues will be given in a descriptive style. For an example;
Item 1:
In a form of Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus
Made of Dehua white porcelain…etc.
Upon completing their task, visitors may proceed over to the next section of the exhibition. A film, which depicts the execution of Christianity, will be shown to them. Besides gaining more insights to “Hidden Christianity in Japan” visitor will be gifted with the scrolls, as a souvenir. If they did not complete the task, they will be able to view the artifact at the gallery. Explanation of the artifacts will also be provided within the gallery.
For visitors who do not wish to participate in the activity, they can make a detour to the gallery, which they can roam freely on their own.
Here is the first draft of the scroll content:
Kirishitan (Hidden Christian) Belongings
There are rumours that there are Kirishitan within this house. Please find the 4 evidence to prove that the rumours are true. There is only 10 minutes to find the evidences before the residence of this house find out about our plan to expose them. Every evidence would have a sticker hidden somewhere on it. Please note that the evidence must have this image of a cross on when you use your UV light on the sticker as there may be a fake version of it where there is no cross on it. There are a total of 4 evidences to prove their identity and they are listed below. Each number represents the evidence, so please make sure that the evidence’s number is similar to this scroll’s numbering.
If you have found all of the evidences, please report back to us with all the evidence layout on the table and you will be rewarded greatly.
–Keihōkyoku
Dehua Kilns Maria Kannon Clues:
Made of Dehua white porcelain
In a form of Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus
Depicted as Kannon feminine form Koyasu Kannon (子安観音) that means child giving and child rearing, which resemble “Byakue Kannon” in appearance but she is holding a child.
A Christian cross is often hidden behind the statue
It disguised as the Buddhist deity Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) in order to conceal the Christian faith while pretending to be Buddhist
MAKKYO(魔鏡),The Magic Mirror Clues:
Made of bronze
Used as an Christian identity
One side brightly polished, other side bronzed surface
Your reflected image can be seen on it when viewing
Shining light directly onto the shiny panel, angled in such a way that by reflecting it on a flat surface, an image of either a crucifix, a figure of Jesus Christ or Virgin Mary would appear
Hidden Wall Scroll of Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus Clues:
In a form of Kakejiku
Use as a form of worship to deities and also as a decorative adds on to their interior design.
Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus depicted in the artwork
Painted in the Shinto style – pale spotless skin, dark raven hair, narrow eyes and minimalistic noses, eyebrows.
Littered with Japanese Motifs: Mary with exposed breasts, sat with the cloudsà depiction of immortality
Kirishitan Doro Clues:
A form of an Oribe lantern with a figure of Virgin Mary, that resemble Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), carved near the base
A Greek monogram “IHS” (iota-eta-sigma, the initials of the Greek form of the name Jesus) which is inscripted below the central platform
Made by Furuta Oribe, famed designer, tea ceremony master and warlord of the Momoyama period (15686 – 1693)
Function as lighting devices and secret sign of being a Christian
Usually found in household gardens as to light the way from main residence to the teahouse.
On the visit to Asian Civilizations Museum, the “Blanket” from Laos is rather an interesting object among the others. It is an object that has a special element to it when the Tai Daeng weaver made this cloth and that element is it served as a healing or protection cloths for the user. In the Laos tradition they usually used these kind of cloth for healing ritual to cure a cold or physical injury. However there are times they used such cloth for protecting a newly born baby or casting their wishes upon the blanket for their child. It is like if the weaver weaves motifs of an elephant on the blanket, the weaver is wishing that the child would be strong and powerful. In their culture, they interpret elephants to be creature that portray an important role in military expeditions and thus it represents power. Likewise for animals such as birds, which represent free spirit, and horse-deer like creatures that also represent a form of military strength. Even motifs of plants represent something for the user. The way of using this cloth is when the baby is being wrapped in the blanket; the baby would in the process absorb the wishes within the blanket.
I find this fact of their tradition is interesting as the little details within the blanket has so much emotions and meaning towards the user and is something that we don’t really see now in the modern times since whenever we are sick, we would take medicine and get well from our cold.
Note: Sadly I didn’t really take any pictures due to the lighting, thus most of my images are from my friends that have successfully taken the photo.
If you could have a room of your own, how would you set about decorating it? Chinoiserie? Japonaiserie? Check out the video about a Chinoiserie room on this web site: http://www.gladstonehotel.com/spaces/417-chinoiserie-room/
I prefer Chinoiserie for its whimsical designs. Chinoiserie is a style inspired by China, Japan and other Asian countries designs. Personally I really like landscape paintings on porcelain from China. It looks interesting and refreshing to look at and to have this kind of design within the room I think it would be a wonderful experience to have. Since Chinoiserie is made up of an imaginary China, it enables one to have an experience of something different beyond their usual space. I like how the patterns feel so synchronize and within the pattern it may tell a story. It is like reading a picture book on a wide wall. The little details contain within works of Chinoiserie intrigue me, and made me think about what was the artist thinking of the story behind this image that was drawn, what kind of interesting characters were being drawn to create life within this space. In the process it feel as if my room would become a space that creates inspirations and an imaginary place for me.
If I would to set about my decoration I would like to keep it as simple as possible cause if there are too many things within the space it would be painful to look at when the purpose of having a room of my own is to relax within the space.
In 1549, missionaries brought Christianity to Japan. It soon became popular that Tokugawa Ieyasu began to fear that Christians were more loyal to their faith than his shogunate. In 1612, Christianity was banned in the country and whoever practiced it were persecuted, often with violence, and in the coming years was even fiercer. It was banned for over two centuries during the Tokugawa Era known as the Edo Period. Authorites were eager to eradicate this foreign religion that they excuted and imprisioned thousands of Christians and ordered all families to register with local Buddhist parishes.
Thus to conceal their faith, Christian had to stay low profile and their faith had to be private. They were known as the Kakure Kirishitan, or Hidden Christians. Since then their faith was forced to go underground, and follower had to find private ways to practice it. In the mid-17th century, outlawed Christians created statues of Virgin Mary (Mother of Jesus) disguised as the Buddhist deity Kannon (Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin). These statues are known as Maria Kannon. Maria Kannon was made or altered to look like Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), however they were not worshipped as Kannon. This is for safety purposes for the Christian who practices their faith in secret. Part of their creation of the statues, they had many version of Maria Kannon that looks like Kannon ranging from “Byakue Kannon”, “Jibo Kannon”, to Guanyin(Kannon) and Child of many different sizes. There are some that have a cross-hidden within the image or had a Christian icon hidden inside the body of the camouflaged artwork.
For instance, Dehua Kilns Maria Kannon is depicted as one of Kannon feminine form Koyasu Kannon (子安観音) that means child giving and child rearing, which resemble “Byakue Kannon” in appearance but she is holding a child. If you look at it with a Christian point of view, doesn’t it feels like it is depicting Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus. In addition to its white robe, according to Christianity, it represents purity and righteousness and served as a symbol of salvation. This statue is made white with Dehua white porcelain, which can be known as “hakugorai” or “Korean White Ware” in traditional Japanese. Based on the material used to make for this statue, it tells that instead of it being made in japan, it is produced in Dehua Kilns, known for their porcelain that is located in Fujian Province opposite the island of Taiwan. Therefore it shows that Dehua Kilns Maria Kannon is imported to Japan for the hidden Christian’s underground use. The reason partly that Japanese uses such material is due to the fact that they associate very plain white with object for Japanese religious and ritual observance. Another reason for the use of such material is that it can produce a pure white colouring for the object. Since it is made in China, Chinese believe that white is the colour of filial piety and , death and mourning. Therefore they are usually used to make devotional characters such as statues and incense burners.
At the back of the statue, a hidden Christian cross can be found. This icon serve to conceal the Christian’s faith while they pretended to be Buddhist. The Christians would honor this statue by silently praying to Mother Mary. Due to having such method it create a sense of relief for the follower as to the outsider it appeared Buddhist, whereas to the outlawed Christian, it appeared as an object of Christ faith. These secretive methods fool the government and help them to keep their faith hidden and alive.
References & Further Reading:
Mark Schumacher. Virgin Mary & Kannon, Two Merciful Mothers (1995 – 2014), Retrieved from November 3, 2015, from
R.W.Smith. Dehua Kilns, “Dehua Kilns Maria Kannon,” The Christian Kannon, The Buddhist Madonna, Retrieved from November 3, 2015, from http://rwsmith.omeka.net/items/show/44
Dunoucou. Chinese Porcelain (October 3, 2008), Retrived from November 3, 2015, from
Jacob Coeman Portrait of Pieter Cnoll and his familie,1665.
Family portrait consist of close-ones standing or posing together for a picture for remembrance that is my definition of what a family portrait is. It captures time, relationship and culture at that moment within the portrait.
There is one family portrait that I know is Jacob Coeman Portrait of Pieter Cnoll and his familie, 1665. This painting depicts Pieter Cnoll, a senior merchant of the VOC in Batavia, and his Japanese courtesan, Cornelia, together with his daughter and servants. I find this family portrait rather interesting as through this painting itself, it tells people what kind of family they are and their relation to another. For instance the way they are dressed tells that they are from the upper class in society, as when compare with the servants in the background Cornelia is dressed beautifully wearing a white pearl necklace, holding a fan, while the servants are poorly dressed. The choices of colors on her clothes also tell us her status. As for relation, the capture of the Asian looks of the daughters tells us the connection between them and Cornelia. The fact that this was painted out fascinates me as I feel that it is harder to capture facial expression on a painting rather than just taking a photo to capture everything within that moment.
If I were to take a family portrait, I would most likely do it in a photo studio as they have everything provided there for us. But on second thought I think it would rather be interesting to take a family portrait anywhere in order the capture the moment as a family together in that period of time just by the way we dress and behave while taking that shot, rather than being so formal like Jacob Coeman Portrait of Pieter Cnoll and his familie,1665.
Liu Kang Building Site / Samsui Women 1951 Oil on canvas
Laborer is needed everywhere. No matter how much time has passed, it is something that still revolves around us. Though now isn’t as harsh than the past where in the ancient Egypt, there were slave laborers to build pyramids for the king, and in the 16th centuries, where laborer were hired to help out in shifting trades cargo. And now we have migrant laborer to help build and clean our home. All of them require a lot of effort and I do appreciate them for their presence. During presentation about laborer, I find the oil painting by Liu Kang is rather interesting. Because often when people talk about laborer, they will tend to look at the bad side of things and talk about cruelty against human rights and etc. However in Liu Kang’s work “Building Site/Samsui Women” he depicted the happiness of the laborers (Samsui Women).
By making his oil painting colorful, it shows realism in his work. When looking at the painting, the women point of view seem to be looking down on their work, it felt as if they were really focusing on the job that need to get it done by the end of the day. Somehow the work itself make one feel to look at it with respect rather than a judgmental point of view towards it. It is really a pretty refreshing way of looking at another point of view. Cause it is like saying that we should be appreciative towards laborers in our country and respect them for having to travel so far in order to earn a living, doing jobs that normally people wouldn’t really want to do in life.
Allan Sekula Welder’s Booth in Bankrupt Todd Shipyard. Two Years After Closing. Los Angeles Harbor. San Pedro, California. July 1991, from Fish Story 1989–95
In Allan Sekula’s engagement with the sea, the film and book “Fish Story” shows us of the lives of people living out in the sea and also lives of people working in the ports part of the trades that he took during his travels to industrial ports around the world. Among his photos that he took, it shows a change of labor in the ports works. I feel his photo “Welder’s booth in Bankrupt Todd Shipyard. Two years After Closing.” speaks a lot about how the port works nowadays. The neglected spanner felt like a representation of manual labor. Since the photo is taken in a port, it feels like with today automated container ports, there are getting lesser manual labors in ports and many stuff are handle by machine and welding. There are still labor handling the machine and welding of pipes, however there isn’t a need for that much people to do manual labor.
While in the 16th century, there aren’t things such as machines or automated containers to help out in the ports. Majority of the stuff are handled by number of men that the captain has on his ship and also how much one labor’s strength is.
In Allan Sekula’s “Fish story”, he quoted from George Keyes:
“ …a ship is not an inanimate object but a complex manned entity that is rarely depicted in isolation; by its very nature it is related to a larger visible or implied whole. Not only are these ships some of the most complex products of seventeenth-century engineering, but their inherently human presence arouse our interest. Once we realize that they are pitted against the elements or against each other we become absorbed in their destiny. By implication the subject is dramatic because there must be an outcome: survival of destruction—victory or defeat.”
This quote made me think that people in the 16th centuries are amazing. To be able to do trades via sea is not an easy task. Just imagining that when a merchant does his trades, he has to carry and ship stuff from one country to another. And without knowing where land would soon be seen is something that I feel personally it takes a lot of courage and risk along the way. While now we have devices to tell us of where we are out at sea.
Other than Catherine of Austria and her kunstkammer, I do not know any other female patron of the arts. Thus I begin my research and had a few names that I could find on the net. I ended up choosing “Isabella d’Este” for this topic.
Isabella d’Este was known for her role as patron of Renaissance learning, arts and literature. Thus obtaining the name as the First Lady of the Renaissance and the First Lady of the World. Her husband, Francesco Gonzaga, together with Isabella d’Este, supported many of the Renaissance’s painters, writers, poets, and musicians. Francesco Gonzaga wasn’t all the interested in arts and literature. However despite that, he was a generous patron with Isabella d’Este who loves arts and literature. Both husband and wife supported artist such as Leonardo, Perugino, Battista Spagnoli, Raphael, Andrea Mantegna, Castiglione and Bandello.
Their support wasn’t limited to artist only but also writers such as Ariosto and Baldassare Castiglione, architect like Giulio Romano, and even musicians like Bartolomeo Troboncino and Marchetto Cara.
Over the years, Isabella d’Este collected many art works and antiquities for her interest. The amount that she collected ended up creating a space that seems like an art museum. Some of the things she has are her commissioning work.
Isabella d’Este being a patron could also help make artists become famous. One artist that became famous because of her is Leonardo. Leonardo was one of the artist that Isabella d’Este really admired his work. It started when she admired the portrait of her brother in law in Milan who was drawn by Leonardo and at that point she hope that Leonardo would paint her as well. By chance, Leonardo worked with her for a year and produces his black chalk Sanguine cartoon of Isabella.
I find her different from other art patrons in the way that she had a tradition to have a competition with her artists. She would have one artist worked on her portrait while another artist producing her portrait of his own style. And once done she would choose the one she likes best. This creates a different level of respect for one another as an artist and understands where one skill level is. While other patron would just get artwork to display in their homes or just for collection purposes.
