Learning about Art History in university, it is very clear to me that education is one of the best ways to expand one’s access and knowledge to worldly matters. And that is exactly why the Jesuit’s schola pictorum (Painting School) in Japan was so successful! The Painting School was a tool for European Jesuits to supply and train Japanese artists in European styles. Initially it was limited to Flemish engravings for demonstration because of the ease of transportation, but as the Jesuit order became increasingly global, Spanish and Italian engravings, prints, and paintings, traveled to the school for teaching. What I find so interesting about the Jesuit school, and the image below that came from an artist trained there (ca. 1624), is the dedication to Christianity present. Not only does this illustration (picturing Fraciscus Xaverius Societatisu, or Saint Francis Xavier) contain Christian subject matter, but also is adorned with “IHS,” the Jesuit symbol, biblical angels, and a common saying coming from his mouth, “It is enough Lord, it is enough.” The layers of this image prove that the missions set up in Japan and the Painting School were not just successful at spreading European art forms to Asia, but also the message and dedication to Christianity itself. The painting is done in a semi-European style with elements of Japanese artistic style (for example, the detail and shading of the hands is uniquely Asian) and with traditional Japanese pigments and colors. The blending of these two artistic cultures is evidence of the globalization of Baroque, and the success of the Jesuit missionaries.
