Tag: Gaspar Vilela

Arte e religione in Giappone: le lettere del gesuita Gaspar Vilela

di Cristian Andreini

In 1571, the Portuguese Jesuit Gaspar Vilela wrote a letter from Goa in which he provided detailed observations of the artistic and religious landscape encountered during his mission in Japan. This article examines his descriptions of temples, gardens, and artworks that shaped the sacred environment of sixteenth-century Japan. Vilela’s letters offer a valuable testimony of the Western gaze on a deeply different culture, where art and spirituality are closely interwoven. The contribution reflects on the role of missionary sources in the study of intercultural art history and on the complex function of sacred images in the dialogue—an often ambivalent one—between Christianity and Buddhism.

Parole chiave: Gaspar Vilela, Arte giapponese, Missioni gesuitiche