Just as the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum, located in Chiayi, is enjoying its resplendent opening, the “northern” National Palace Museum in the Taipei suburb of Shilin is celebrating a first-of-its-kind exhibit entitled “Treasures from Heaven: A Special Exhibition of Artifacts from the Holy See.” It is a meeting of East and West that coincides with the NPM’s expansion from north to south.
The Catholic Church has, through its roughly 2000 years of history, developed its own unique and highly refined liturgy. The vestments worn and sacred objects used in its rituals are also works of art, expressing both beauty and magnificence, as well as having a sacred and venerable religious significance.
For centuries, the Vatican Sacristy has been collecting and storing liturgical garments and objects. Except for times when they have been worn or used by past popes on major ritual occasions, they have rarely been seen by outsiders, let alone on the scale of this exhibition.
Starting from musical exchange
NPM director Fung Ming-chu relates that the planning of this exhibition traces its origins to the first-ever performance in Taiwan, in September of 2014, by the Sistine Chapel Choir, the official papal choir.
One of the staff accompanying the choir to Taiwan, Father Paolo Benedik, was very impressed by the enthusiasm he felt from the Taiwan side. Fr. Benedik, who is the custodian of the Papal Sacristy, formed an excellent impression of Taiwan on his visit, and suggested further exchanges. Later the second secretary of the Holy See’s Apostolic Nunciature (diplomatic representative office) in the ROC, Monsignor Ivan Santus, began discussions with Director Fung to arrange for these historical artifacts to come to Taiwan for an exhibition.
“To me this is extraordinarily serendipitous. These artifacts have been kept in St. Peter’s Basilica, in a highly secret location accessible only to designated officials of the papacy,” says Fung. “In the past, the Vatican would perhaps allow one of these uniquely sacred items to go abroad for public display, but never before have more than 60 artifacts been allowed out collectively for an overseas show. This is really a radical, groundbreaking event.”
NPM and Vatican jointly plan exhibition
In June of 2015, Fung visited the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence to take part in the contract signing ceremony for another collaborative exhibition at the NPM, one celebrating the 300th anniversary of the arrival of Jesuit missionary and artist Giuseppe Castiglione in China. She took the opportunity to stop by the Vatican, and, through arrangements made by Msgr. Santus and Vatican staff, personally entered the sacristy, getting a first-hand look at these precious artifacts.
Fung says, “We were in the storerooms for a whole day, learning the details of the collection and discussing plans for the exhibition. Although there were some places I was still not allowed to enter, I came away from the visit with a much more concrete conception of the artifacts. After I returned to Taiwan the NPM organized a team to study the history of Catholicism as it relates to East Asia, and, within these parameters, collected all the research materials we could and set to work planning the exhibition.”
With the two sides cooperating closely, the Vatican expressed its hope that the exhibition could take place in February of 2016. Although this was a bit rushed time-wise, planning in this way had its own particular meaning, because 2016 is an important year for the current pope, Francis.
Pope Francis was elected in 2013. He is active in speaking out on many social issues, and is especially concerned with harmony between man and nature. He devoted his recent second encyclical since taking office to the subject “On Care for Our Common Home,” reflecting the great importance the Vatican currently places on environmental issues.
Pope Francis also announced that the period from December 8 of 2015 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary) through November 20 of 2016 (Feast of Christ the King) would be an “extraordinary jubilee year” to be called the “Jubilee of Mercy.” (A jubilee is a period of remission of sins and pardons, ordinarily held once every 25 years.) On December 8 itself, following traditional practice, he opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica to symbolize welcoming the arrival of the Jubilee.
Highest levels of diplomatic courtesy
The exhibition was deliberately planned to start before the Chinese Lunar New Year in February so that people would be able to take advantage of the vacation to see it. The ROC embassy in the Vatican put in a great deal of effort to arrange meetings between relevant staff, communications, and customs clearance of the exhibit items. Everything was conducted at the highest standards of diplomatic courtesy, making it possible for the exhibition to get up and running without a hitch.
The exhibition is divided into six major themes: The Holy See; The Liturgical Year; The Altar; The Pope and History; The Sacraments; and Catholicism Spreads East. Together, these categories elaborate on the close relationship between the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, and the history and development of the church.
The works in this exhibition are at the highest level of artistic brilliance, in addition to their sacred dignity, powerful vitality, religious meaning, and Biblical allusions. To round out the exhibition, the Vatican pieces are complemented by documents from the NPM’s own collection related to the development of Catholicism in the Chinese-speaking world, as well as a bishop’s pastoral staff belonging to Fu Jen Catholic University (FJCU).
The Fu Jen bishop’s staff
The bishop’s staff was used by Celso Cardinal Costantini, who served from 1922 through 1933 as the first apostolic delegate to China, and also was instrumental in founding the university. It has both historical significance and artistic value. Chen Fang-chung, an associate professor of history at Fu Jen and the curator of the school’s Chinese Catholic Museum, says that Costantini was himself an artist, and that he greatly admired Chinese aesthetics and works of art.
After returning to the Vatican, Costantini gave the staff as a gift to the religious affairs advisor at the ROC embassy to the Holy See, Stanislaus Lo Kuang. Lo, himself a Catholic priest, returned to Taiwan in 1966 to become bishop of the Tainan diocese, eventually becoming archbishop in Taipei. During this period, whenever called for by the liturgy, he always used the staff that Costantini had given him. In 1978, Lo became the second president of FJCU, where he remained until his retirement in 1992. The pastoral staff has been part the school’s collection of historic artifacts ever since.
This staff is very unusual from an artistic point of view in that it has Chinese-style decorative patterns. According to the NPM, the patterns were made using a kind of cloisonné enamel technique. A bishop’s staff or crosier is modeled on a shepherd’s crook. The head of the Costantini staff has four sides, representing the four gospels of the New Testament. At the center of the staff’s head is a lamb, a symbol of the “Lamb of God” of Catholic doctrine. The pedestal for the lamb figure is an altar, symbolizing the religion’s belief in the sacrifice made by Jesus for mankind.
Special meaning for Catholics
Another especially rare item to go on display is a reliquary containing an armbone of Saint Francis Xavier (1506–1552), considered a very sacred relic. Chen Fang-chung explains, “St. Francis Xavier was the first Jesuit to be assigned to China as a missionary. He was first sent to Asia in 1540, going initially to the East Indies, Malacca, and Japan…. In 1552, as he was preparing to enter China, he died on Shangchuan Island, just off Macao.” The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) later acquired one of his bones, which was sent back to the order’s headquarters in Rome.
Another extraordinary piece is the “Image of Edessa” (also known as the “Mandylion of Edessa”), dating to some time from the 3rd to 5th centuries CE. Fung Ming-chu explains, “This object traces back to a piece of cloth on which the image of the face of Jesus miraculously appeared. According to one Christian tradition, after the death of Jesus, a king who had been aided by Jesus sent a painter to the Holy Land to make a drawing of him, but the painter was unable to do so because the face was giving off a glaring holy light. Later, after washing Jesus’ face, he used a piece to cloth to dry it, and Jesus’ image was miraculously transferred to the cloth.”
The Vatican’s generosity in permitting these and other incredibly precious artifacts to be displayed in “Treasures from Heaven: A Special Exhibition of Artifacts from the Holy See” demonstrates the warm diplomatic ties and friendship between the ROC and the Holy See. Moreover, the exhibition is especially meaningful for Catholics, because seeing these papal objects is almost like seeing the Pope himself. And beyond its religious significance, the exhibition is also a major cultural and artistic event. Visitors from all over the world who come to Taiwan invariably visit the National Palace Museum, so this is a show that will delight people not only from Taiwan, but many other lands as well.
The “Image of Edessa,” which dates from the 3rd to the 5th centuries, is said to be a true image ofthe face of Jesus.
A chalice with paten used by Blessed Pope Pius IX (reign: 1846–1878).
National Palace Museum director Fung Ming-chu was in the Vatican on November 5 of 2015 to sign the loan agreement that set the special exhibition in motion.
A jeweled closure used by Servant of God Pope Benedict XIII (reign: 1724–1730).
A tiara used by Blessed Pope Pius IX (reign: 1846–1878).
A red mantle with stole used by Saint Pope John XXIII (reign: 1958–1963).
A Chinese-inspired chasuble with stole used by Saint Pope John Paul II (reign: 1978–2005).
A processional cross used by Saint Pope John Paul II (reign: 1978–2005).
A bishop’s pastoral staff, originally belonging to Celso Cardinal Costantini, now held by the Chinese Catholic Museum at Fu Jen Catholic University. It is 180 cm long and has great artistic value. (courtesy of the Chinese Catholic Museum, FJCU)
“Ecce Homo” altarpiece used by Pope Leo XIII (reign: 1878–1903).
Reliquary and relic of St. Francis Xavier (the reliquary dates to the mid-late 19th century, some time after 1843).
