[15] A Rare African Democratic Republic of Congo Kingdom of Congo Carved Stone Devotional Sculpture of the Virgin Mary Wearing a Long Tunic and Veil Praying in Adoration Old damage to feet and one hand 18th Century
s i z e : 31 cm high, 12 cm wide, 9 cm deep – 12¼ ins high, 4¾ ins wide, 3½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Sothebys Tribal Art Auction 1989 Ex Private Swiss collection c f : A similar Wgure in the same Pose and Attire in cast Brass 17th or 18th Century was exhibited in Ora Pro Nobis: Étude sur les Crucifix Bakongo, Brussels 2011 Congo’s conversion to Christianity diVered greatly from other examples of Portuguese colonial conquest. It was not wholly imposed by them, but was encouraged by the Congolese rulers of the 16th century who used their traditional power to impose the Catholic faith upon their people. In 1625 the Jesuits opened a college in the capital to educate the royal elite, and to assist in the general conversion of the country the church encouraged the production of imagery adapting local creative potential to visual symbols of Christian iconography. Old popular practices merged into Christian concepts, a Christian sculpture or object became a Nkisi, a place inhabited by an ancestral spirit with the power to interfere in daily matters. Similarly salt replaced holy water in baptism ceremonies as a protector against sorcery. Eventually Christian imagery in the form of rosaries and cruciWxes took over the role of the ancient amulets and the cruciWx, the symbolic icon of all Portuguese missionary expeditions, became fully integrated into the philosophy of the ancient Congo. As with the Wgure of Christ on the cross, the Virgin Mary became a powerful force evocative of the power of the royal elite and of a subject’s deference. In this sculpture the Virgin is portrayed wearing lengths of cloth artfully draped and arranged in overlapping layers accessorised with several necklaces and bracelets on each wrist. She is made to resemble the elite women of the Congo as they are painted in mid 18th watercolours in the missionary journal Missione in prattica: Padri Cappuccini ne Requi di Congo, Angola, et adiacenti circa 1750 now in Biblioteca Civica Centrale, Turin. They appear wrapped in extravagant lengths of imported textiles wearing similar jewellery. The sculptor was evidently trying to evoke the connections between wealth, power and prestige and Christianity in 18th century Central Africa.