It was worth braving the heat (39˚C) and the masses at the Forbidden City to see the little exhibition of art from the Vatican Museums, "Beauty Unites Us/专心之美." I most enjoyed the early-20th century painters Wang Suda and Lin Yinfang, who painted scenes from the life of Jesus in Chinese forms. Here are Wang's oddly spare Last
Supper and opulent Mary and Jesus with an angel in a garden, and Lin's Flight to Egypt. But it would have been nice to know more about who they were, and who they painted for. The long and complicated relationship of the Catholic Church to the powers in the Forbidden City was not detailed, though this exhibition must be a sign of the current much delayed détente. Rather we were learned of Rome's respect for all religions, and the wish of all for harmony between civilizations, and between humanity and nature - which point was made with an enormous China-unrelated Eden by Wenzel Peter.
