1 / 10
  • JAPAN; CATHOLIC; HIDDEN
  • JAPAN; CATHOLIC; HIDDEN;SECRET
  • JAPAN;CATHOLIC; SECRET
  • JAPAN;CATHOLIC;SECRET;HIDDEN
  • JAPAN;CATHOLIC;SECRET;HIDDEN
  • CHINA; CATHOLIC; KWANYIN; MADONNA
  • CHINA; CATHOLIC; KWANYIN
  • CHALICE; HIDDEN; ENGLAND; CATHOLIC
  • IRELAND; CHALICE; CATHOLIC
  • QUEEN ELIZABETH I; PELICAN CATHOLIC
Open and closed: A 16th-century portable lacquered Japanese shrine.
The clandestine paintings that survived the repression of Catholicism in Japan are a fascinating fusion of East and West. Usually in the form of portable shrines, they are triptychs in which the central panel is a classic Western devotional scene.
+

© Christie's