Jesuit Global Strategies in Art and Conversion

The purpose of this seminar is to examine the first global strategy to use art for the purpose of persuasion and conversion. In Europe, Asia, and the Americas during the early modern period, the Jesuits adapted their messages of visual communication, in architecture, prints, paintings, maps, dress, and rituals, to meet what they calculated would be the conceptual frameworks and customs of their target audiences, whether Chinese court officials, Flemish peasants. The seminar will search for the deeper historical roots of this strategy which up to now have not been traced. Open to graduate students only.