Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanese Ambassadors in Early Modern Europe by Mayu Fujikawa

Author:Mayu Fujikawa [Fujikawa, Mayu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Pennsylvania State University Press
Published: 2025-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

fig. 80 | Attributed to Giovanni Lanfranco, Carlo Saraceni, and their assistants, loggia of Chinese and pilgrim figures, 1616–17. Sala Regia (currently Salone dei Corazzieri), Quirinal Palace, Rome. Segretariato Generale della Presidenza della Repubblica–Photo Giovanni Ricci Novara.

fig. 81 | Attributed to Agostino Tassi and his assistants, loggia of the Persian ambassador ‘Ali-qoli Beg, 1616–17. Sala Regia (currently Salone dei Corazzieri), Quirinal Palace, Rome. Photo: Giuseppe Schiavinotto.

The colorful, exotic clothes and diversity of the foreign figures undoubtedly impressed contemporary viewers. Kimono robes, flamboyantly feathered hats, jeweled turbans, and the richly embroidered garments of the Middle East are painted in gold, red, pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue. In showing traditional attire from around the globe, the fresco can be seen as a monumental version of the world-spanning costume books that were popularized by Cesare Vecellio and others.

In particular, the individualized depiction of the East Asians demonstrates the papacy’s updated firsthand knowledge of Japan and China. To the far left of the Japanese loggia (fig. 14) is a saggy-cheeked figure with a wrinkled forehead and long sideburns. One of the two black-haired men with fleshy, rosy cheeks is painted with thick eyebrows, while the other has a wide face and round eyes. The two figures flank a grey-haired man with slightly dark skin, who looks forward. Similarly, the Chinese man in black (fig. 80) is clearly distinguished from the two behind, who appear to be his servants (their frontal and profile images were almost certainly derived from the same model). The Japanese islands had been “discovered” little more than half a century earlier, and the Ming Empire only permitted residency to European missionaries in 1582. At a time when direct access to information about such hitherto unfamiliar inhabitants was increasing but still limited, their detailed collective portrayal underscored the pope’s expansive awareness, knowledge, and influence.

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