The Jesuit Seminário dos Pintores in Japan: Artistic Production and Networks between Japan and Macao, c. 1590–1630

This paper examines the activities and artistic output of the Jesuit Seminário dos pintores (School of Painters), established in Japan around 1590 by the Italian Jesuit painter Giovanni Cola, and its subsequent production and networks in Macao. Extant works from the Seminário in Japan exhibit a unique delicacy, subtle tonalities, and a reliance on Western prints, reflecting Counter-Reformation trends, particularly the promotion of miraculous sacred images. Regarding the school’s activities in Macao, the study discusses the painting “St. Michael the Archangel Holding a Monstrance,” attributed to the disciple Jacob Niwa, which features peculiar iconography linked to the Council of Trent’s doctrine on the Eucharist. It also considers the portrait of Matteo Ricci by the Macao-born Chinese disciple Emmanuel Pereira. Furthermore, the study attributes at least a portion of the frescoes in the Chapel of Our Lady of Guia to Cola or his disciples, while noting that the façade sculptures of Church of St. Paul were likely not produced by them. Finally, the art of the Seminário, including its potential connection to the so-called Macao Folding Screens, is framed within the broader, interconnected artistic context of East Asian global missionary art.