You have probably heard it on the news these past days:
Two controversial ancient Chinese relics were auctioned off on February 25 for 14 million euros ($17.92 million) each by anonymous telephone bidders in Christie's sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge in the Grand Palace of Paris.
But did you know that these are Jesuit-designed sculptures?
Here is a note from UCANews:
Some Catholics sad over auction of Jesuit-designed sculptures
BEIJING (UCAN) -- Chinese Catholics have expressed sadness that two bronze animal-head sculptures, designed by a Jesuit missioner for Beijing's Summer Palace in the 18th century, were auctioned off in Paris.
Ruins of the fountain area in Yuanmingyuan where the two bronze scuptures were looted.
They say they are disappointed that the law court in the French capital rejected an appeal to ban the auction. Mainland Chinese lawyers filed their appeal through a France-based Chinese cultural group. Each of the sculptures, used as waterspouts in the Summer Palace, was sold for 14 million euros (US$17.8 million) on Feb. 25.
Italian Jesuit Brother Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), known as Lang Shining to the Chinese, designed the sculptures for the Yuanmingyuan, a royal garden at the Summer Palace. They were plundered by British and French forces in 1860.
A priest rejected the demand of Pierre Berge, former owner of the sculptures, who had said he wanted China to observe human rights, give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama in exchange for the sculptures.
The priest said that using religion and human rights to obscure the thefts of the past "reminds me of a similar pretext the Anglo-French forces used for their colonial aggression – to protect Church missioners." According to him, the ultimate victims of colonialism were the helpless missioners, unarmed Catholics and the "innocent Church that was branded an accomplice of the foreign forces."
These historical episodes had thus prevented the Chinese people from accepting Christianity, unlike the way they have embraced Buddhism, he observed.
A Catholic layman in eastern China has a different view. Even though the Chinese sculptures are overseas, he said, they are nevertheless well preserved. He noted that many Catholic monuments and buildings in China were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), and wondered whether anyone has been held accountable for this.
The Yuanmingyuan, one of three royal gardens of the Qing emperors' Summer Palace, was designed and constructed under the supervision of Brother Castiglione, under the imperial edict of Emperor Qianlong, who reigned from 1736 to 1795. Inside the garden, 12 waterspouts in the shape of bronze animal heads with human bodies adorned a fountain. The auctioned animal heads were two of the artifacts.
Brother Castiglione came to China in 1715. He served as a court painter for 51 years until he died.
The apparent winning bidder for two prized Chinese sculptures in a Paris auction surfaced Monday March 2, a Chinese collector and auctioneer who said it was his patriotic duty to refuse to pay the $40 million he had pledged.
Two controversial ancient Chinese relics were auctioned off on February 25 for 14 million euros ($17.92 million) each by anonymous telephone bidders in Christie's sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge in the Grand Palace of Paris.
But did you know that these are Jesuit-designed sculptures?
Here is a note from UCANews:
Some Catholics sad over auction of Jesuit-designed sculptures
BEIJING (UCAN) -- Chinese Catholics have expressed sadness that two bronze animal-head sculptures, designed by a Jesuit missioner for Beijing's Summer Palace in the 18th century, were auctioned off in Paris.Ruins of the fountain area in Yuanmingyuan where the two bronze scuptures were looted.
They say they are disappointed that the law court in the French capital rejected an appeal to ban the auction. Mainland Chinese lawyers filed their appeal through a France-based Chinese cultural group. Each of the sculptures, used as waterspouts in the Summer Palace, was sold for 14 million euros (US$17.8 million) on Feb. 25.
Italian Jesuit Brother Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), known as Lang Shining to the Chinese, designed the sculptures for the Yuanmingyuan, a royal garden at the Summer Palace. They were plundered by British and French forces in 1860.
A priest rejected the demand of Pierre Berge, former owner of the sculptures, who had said he wanted China to observe human rights, give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama in exchange for the sculptures.
The priest said that using religion and human rights to obscure the thefts of the past "reminds me of a similar pretext the Anglo-French forces used for their colonial aggression – to protect Church missioners." According to him, the ultimate victims of colonialism were the helpless missioners, unarmed Catholics and the "innocent Church that was branded an accomplice of the foreign forces."
These historical episodes had thus prevented the Chinese people from accepting Christianity, unlike the way they have embraced Buddhism, he observed.
A Catholic layman in eastern China has a different view. Even though the Chinese sculptures are overseas, he said, they are nevertheless well preserved. He noted that many Catholic monuments and buildings in China were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), and wondered whether anyone has been held accountable for this.
The Yuanmingyuan, one of three royal gardens of the Qing emperors' Summer Palace, was designed and constructed under the supervision of Brother Castiglione, under the imperial edict of Emperor Qianlong, who reigned from 1736 to 1795. Inside the garden, 12 waterspouts in the shape of bronze animal heads with human bodies adorned a fountain. The auctioned animal heads were two of the artifacts.
Brother Castiglione came to China in 1715. He served as a court painter for 51 years until he died.
The apparent winning bidder for two prized Chinese sculptures in a Paris auction surfaced Monday March 2, a Chinese collector and auctioneer who said it was his patriotic duty to refuse to pay the $40 million he had pledged.
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