"The Annunciation",A Brief Discussion Of Western Christian Classical Imagery's Sinicization

The Chinese print has a long history that has its roots in Chinese traditional printing.It is generally believed that the earliest existing prints are the “Vajra Prajnaparamita ” of the Tang Dynasty in 868.During the Ming dynasty,Chinese printmaking had developed to the point that almost all books were illustrated,and woodcut workshops were everywhere.The printed image had become a part of life in all parts of society.This proliferation of the print provided favorable conditions for the Western Jesuit missionaries to come to China in the 16 th century.The missionaries brought with them the tediously produced engraved prints of European christian imagery.When these European engravings encountered the tradition of the Chinese woodcut,a wonderful new development occurred.Influenced by the linear shaping of Chinese traditional woodblocks,and with no concept of European perspective or light and shadow,the posterity of Christianity was given a new life in China and disseminated.The author of this article went to Italy and the Vatican Museum of Fine Arts to conduct field research.Illustrations of the “The Virgin Mary” were used as an example to analyze the evolution of images and ideas from oil painting to copper engraving to the Chinese woodcut.Attempts and breakthroughs have embodied the unique printed language formed by the Chinese woodcut prints influenced by European Christian copperplate prints.This is a very valuable dialogue between Chinese and Western art in the field of printmaking.