Paper short abstract:

This paper intends to examine the confluence of Christian art with the religious arts of India between the 16th and the 18th centuries, as well as the awareness of European missionaries on the artistic and religious traditions in India.

Paper long abstract:

In the sixteenth-century the Portuguese established a permanent connection between Europe and Asia giving place to an unprecedented cultural, religious and artistic exchange.

In Europe the Catholic Church saw the opportunity to spread the greatness of Christendom in all parts of the world. Therefore, the missionaries had a major role in cultural, religious and artistic exchange, regarding that they enacted as diplomatic envois to the imperial courts as well as they dealt with local communities preaching Christianity or taking care of the women, the infirm and the orphans.

Facing the lack of understanding on Catholic faith by the Asian cultures the missionaries used images as a powerful tool to illustrate the mysteries of Christianity and make easier the understanding of the Western teachings.

This paper examines the impact of Christian imagery in the context of the European missions in India as a result of the western perspective on the cultural, religious and artistic values in Asia. It will focus on the missionary's accounts about Hindu and Buddhist imagery and their resemblance with Christian iconography; how the missionaries take advantage of a considerable knowledge on the local cultural background, the religious practices and the ground rules of Hinduism and Buddhism, to replace, imitate or dissimulate local iconography introducing or 'translating' Christian symbols and narratives. Finally, I will evaluate the different levels of cultural and artistic permeability to Christian art accordingly with the political power.