If you're looking for Christ or just a Christmas message they can be found at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館), where a major exhibition of paintings called Art and Religion opened last week.
For the first time in Asia, the Vatican and a handful of Italian museums have lent some of their most important paintings. It is a well-timed gesture and an opportunity to view some classics of the Western aesthetic canon.
Covering a period of around 300 years — from the middle ages, through the renaissance and to the baroque era — many of the paintings will be familiar to Christians and art enthusiasts.
Francesco Caroto's (1480-1555) powerful Slaughter of the Innocents and the darkly brooding Saint Francesco by Dal Ribera (1591-1652), join a collection of maps, illustrations and light boxes beaming images of stained glass windows and works by Michelangelo.
Art has always served religion and the organizers are not shy about their intentions, which were spelled out last week by some heavyweights from the Vatican and the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office.
"Exhibits of these kind have never been seen before in Asia," said Monsignor Jose Manuel Del Rio Carresco at the opening. "They teach Christ's message and introduce Catholic culture."
He was preaching to an audience of the converted but insisted in a later interview the message would not fall on barren ground. There are 300,000 Catholics in Taiwan, but most of its 23 million people are a mix of Buddhists and Daoists.
"It was John Paul II, on a visit to Poland, who said that he didn't want to use words but rather the language of beauty to convey a religious message. Beauty can talk," Carresco said in Italian, through an interpreter. "The life of Jesus that is represented in many of these paintings gives the public an opportunity for spiritual awakening to the value and meaning of life."
He had earlier visited two Buddhist temples and when pressed as to whether the beauty of these places of worship were equally a key to their religious truths, gave the answer that Buddhism was about man becoming God, rather than man worshipping God.
"It takes faith to put on an event like this. It's impossible to celebrate a Christian civilization without looking at its faith," said Mme. Accili, an officer from the Italian trade and culture mission. "What we see is the classical Italian school of painting, inspired by a religion that is an integral part of Italian society."
The reverent and slightly faded space at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is suited to such an exhibition. The walls have been painted cardinal red, which works well with the wood-framed paintings. There are even cathedral-like arches that lead to the various galleries.
According to curator Professor Chou Kung-shin (周功鑫), a director at Fu Jen Catholic University, an additional main door and state-of-the-art climate control equipment were installed for the exhibition, otherwise insurers would not have agreed it could go ahead. White light sources have been fitted because the paintings are best viewed in as near natural light as possible, Chou added.
The works inevitably make a big impression. After all, they have passed the test of time. An early piece is Andrea di Bartolo Cini's (1358/64-1428) Nativity of Jesus. Painted in a proto-perspective or non-technical style, on three wooden panels, it is a lively representation of the Christmas story. The wise men and kings gather around Mary in the stable, while Christ and angels look on from above.
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