I find this hanging scroll from Vietnam particularly interesting. Depicting the Christian theme of Last Judgement, the work follows Chinese painting techniques and integrates Buddhist vision of hell. The upper side of the scroll represents heaven, where Christians and angels peacefully surround Christ and God the Father. The middle part is a world on fire; people and various kinds of animals are attempting to escape from the fire. Noticeably, the clothing of the people and the architectural skills all appear to be Chinese. At the bottom of the work is a vision of hell: punishments of the sinners, according to Buddhism ideology, are carefully labelled in this burning place.
Indeed, the silk scroll is an excellent example of the integration of art during the Baroque period. Although the theme is Christian, the work nonetheless reflects Chinese aesthetics. For example, the artist is not interested in realism upon creating the scroll: the numerous Christians depicted in heaven all have the same bodily expressions, and those in the far back are simplified into black and white dots. The work does not imply depth, nor are the figures entail any volume, which is typical for Chinese paintings. Overall, I really like how the artist incorporates Chinese painting techniques and Buddhism beliefs with the Christian theme, and it is even more amazing to realize that this is indeed a Vietnamese work, which powerfully demonstrates the global communication of art during the Baroque times.
