My version of the Chinese Madonna

Earlier this year I chanced upon an image of a water-colour painting entitled “Our Lady of China” by Rebecca Gorzynzka, a US-based artist/cross-stitch designer whose work can be seen at :https://delphinaroseart.com/. The image caught my attention for a number of reasons

1. It was a religious painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary which I hoped to paint as a contemporary icon - part of own icon studies.

2. I considered it beautiful – it used both red, saffron and gold (which are symbolically important colours throughout Asia).

3. It depicted Mary and Jesus as royalty rather than the wife and son of a humble carpenter, which was intriguing.

4. Mary and Jesus were both represented with mixed-race/Asian features – a complete opposite of conventional icons and religious images which depict them as European (in contradiction to the fact that they were really Middle Eastern).

5. The painting itself was inspired by a mid-20^th century painting of the Marian apparition connected with the “Our Lady of China”, who appeared at Donglu, during the Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901, and was described as being clothed in white.

My aim in researching and creating my own version of the painting was to use the process as a means to develop an understanding of Christian iconography in different historical and cultural contexts.

In a contemporary globalised world, it is worthwhile to develop an understanding of different traditions for a number of reasons that do not involve theology or spirituality. Like other forms of art creation, the process of engaging with icons and understanding their history while painting/writing them, is, a profoundly political act and because of this, it is a contested space. It is a space for cultural exchange between groups whose history and world view is widely different. It is also a place for aggrandisement and cultural appropriation. At its best, it is a place for cultural syncretism (the hybridization or blending of different cultural inputs for the betterment of a society).

How so? Paintings, sculpture, music, stories, literature, dress, everyday objects, monuments, homes, clothing, jewellery and other art forms preserve what fact-based historical records simply cannot – they express how people in a particular place, in a specific society existed – what they valued (paid and got paid for), how they viewed the world and represented it, the technologies available to and used by them, their political and social stories, how they communicated and how they conveyed their sense of self.

So in every civilized society, what is legitimate in art (as opposed to what is defined as “folk-art” or “kitsch”) is really a reflection of who is in the majority or who holds power at that point in time. Religious art-making is definitely not exempt from any of these factors.

It is worthwhile analysing Christian art (even superficially) against this backdrop.

The term Christian icons is usually applied to Byzantine, Russian, Coptic or Ethiopian images which fit within the framework of Orthodox Catholic Theology and follow very specific rules in their style of creation. It is important to note that Orthodox Catholic Theology is different from Roman Catholic Theology. The aim of the Orthodox style is not to emphasise the physical beauty of the figures depicted, but to portray their spiritual beauty within a prescribed framework. The entire process of painting/writing the icon is meant to further the iconographer’s connection with the Divine. For a really informative paper on the "Theology of the Icon" refer to ' https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/TheologyoftheIcon?sfnsn=mo

The accepted norms in Orthodox Theology and culture date back to the First Council of Nicea in 325 CE (which was called by the Emperor Constantine to consolidate his own power and support in Christendom[1])

However, the technique of writing/painting Christian icons was not divinely inspired and early Christian icons drew heavily on existing Hellenic influences (which in turn borrowed from Greek, Roman and Persian art). Also, in many respects, the process of icon painting follows the techniques of Fayum funerary portraits from Egypt.[2] [3]

Christian religious art created outside the Orthodox tradition – specifically in Asia, South America and various indigenous traditions world-wide, have different histories and symbols – each relevant to their culture.

Our Lady of China, the Great Mother (Latin: Nostra Domina de Sina) aka Our Lady of Donglü. is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a reputed Marian apparition in Donglü, China in 1900.

During the Boxer Rebellion, a great number of soldiers attacked the village of Donglü, Hebei. The village consisted of a small community of Christians founded by the Vincentian Order of priests. Legends claim that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in white with a fiery horseman (believed to be Saint Michael the Archangel) who chased away the soldiers.

The local priest, Father Rene Flament of the Congregation of the Mission hired a local French painter in Shanghai to make a Marian statue similar to the Chinese dowager Empress Ci Xi. This image was based in the Marian image of “Our Lady of Laeken” venerated in the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Brussels, Belgium.

Donglu became a place of pilgrimage in 1924. The image was blessed and unveiled to the public by Pope Pius XI in 1928.[4] At the close of the 1924 Shanghai Synod of Bishops in China, the first national conference of bishops in the country, the Apostolic Chancellor, Cardinal Celso Costantini as the Apostolic Delegate in China, along with all the bishops of China, consecrated the Chinese people to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Pius XII designated the feast day as an official feast of the Catholic liturgical calendar in 1941.[5]

The Donglu statue was later destroyed in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution.

In 1973, the Chinese Bishops' conference, upon approval from the Holy See, set the feast day on the day preceding Mothers Day (the second Sunday of May).[2]

In 1989, a painted canvas of the same Madonna with Child Jesus dressed in Qing-dynasty golden imperial robes was recreated, and is now enshrined at the altar of the “Our Lady of Donglu” parish. This painting by a well-known Macanese artist Chu Kar Kui (Gary) was installed in a side chapel of the Church of the Saviour), also known as the Xishiku Church; or Beitang 'North Church', is a historic Catholic church in the Xicheng District, Beijing, China.

In Chu Kar Kui’s painting both the Madonna and Child are depicted with distinctly Chinese features. Also, the colors red and gold also hold deep cultural significance in China. They are embedded in traditions, beliefs, and customs across the country. Red symbolizes luck, joy, and happiness while gold signifies wealth, prosperity, nobility, stature, respect and royalty or high social standing.

In 2020, Rebecca Gorzynzka, the US-based artist/cross-stitch designer, created a water-colour version of the “Chinese Madonna”, working off an unnamed “mid-20^th century” reference depicting both Mary and the Christ child with Chinese features, in Qing-dynasty yellow imperial dragon robes.

Departing from that reference, she decorated their robes with different patterns – peonies, the tail and wings of a phoenix, an Auspice Maria symbol on Mary, and the Holy Spirit on Jesus, but kept the imperial yellow color and style. On Mary’s robe she included a winged horseman, representing St. Michael the Archangel appearing to chase away enemies from Donglu village. She based Mary’s crown on a 19th- century court hat from the Beijing workshop and decorated it with feathers, pearls, and metal phoenixes, (as phoenixes are a symbol of femininity in China, and of the Resurrection in western Christianity).

Both Chu Kar Kui’s painting and Rebecca Gorzynzka’s water-colour would fall under the category of contemporary Christian religious art. This inspired me to attempt my own version of the subject. I am allowing it to reveal its lessons and messages to me after the painting process through the insights which will come with time.