A visual missiology : images of Christ in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European Jesuit and Japanese Kirishitan religious visual cultures

This thesis explores theology and visual art in relation to the concept of God’s mission. The central research question is: How do images of Christ in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European Jesuit and Japanese Kirishitan (Christian) religious visual cultures help to illuminate the relationships between theology, visual art, and intercultural ministry? Chapter 1 defines the key concept of visual missiology, describes research methodology, and provides a critical historical summary of the religious visual cultures pertinent to the following three case studies. Chapter 2 examines Salvator Mundi (Saviour of the World) images and the visual missiological theme of presence, including presence as a dimension of God’s mission and Christ’s presence as a salvific blessing with a global, transcultural scope. Chapter 3 examines hybrid portable altarpieces and the visual missiological theme of pilgrimage, including pilgrimage as a dimension of God’s mission and the humble, vulnerable aspects of journeys. Chapter 4 examines fumi-e (stepping pictures; used in the persecution of Christians) and the visual missiological theme of pain, including pain as a dimension of God’s mission and the dynamics of secrecy and hiddenness in faith. Chapter 5 draws together reflections on visual missiology and the case studies developed in this thesis. In studying God’s mission, mediated through the lens of Salvator Mundi images, portable altarpieces, and fumi-e, the themes of presence, pilgrimage, and pain emerge as central expressions of visual missiology in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Jesuit-Kirishitan context. Two appendices supplement this thesis: the first considers the ongoing potential of such images from the Meiji era (1868-1912) to the present day, and the second exhibits contemporary mixed media collages made in response to this research project.