This small, highly detailed mother-of-pearl plaque carved in South China or in The Philippines ca. 1580-1620, depicts Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata.
Two years before His death, in 1224, Saint Francis (ca. 1181-1226) received the Stigmata – the bodily wounds corresponding to Christ’s Crucifixion wounds - while praying on the mountain retreat of La Verna, near Arezzo, in Italy. The event was accepted as a sign of his deep unity with Christ’s suffering and became a powerful symbol of Christian devotion.
At the centre, body turned to the right, the masterfully carved kneeling Saint raises his arms while receiving the Stigmata wounds from a hovering Crucifix. Saint Francis appears to levitate above the barren rocky landscape, from which stand out, on the right foreground, human bones and a skull. Also on the right, an egret climbs a hill on which clouds seem to hold and elevate the otherworldly Crucified Christ occupying much of the upper corner. Between the egret - likely the Chinese Egretta eulophotes - and the clouds, there seems to appear a book. In the upper left corner, a cluster of similarly dense clouds.
Carved as if a framed composition, the plaque features a shallow engraved border of delicately incised clouds, contrasting with the deeper carved central scene in which the figures of Saint Francis and the Crucified Christ protrude from the polished background. Only part preserved in recessed and difficult-to-access points, traces of the original vibrant polychrome decoration are still evident on the light rays striking the Saint, on the rocky hill, and on both figures’ hair and beard. Black pigment is also preserved on the Titulus Crucis, the ‘Title of the Cross’ label set on the crucifix upper arm, which reads ‘INRI’ - Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews).
The carver’s Chinese origin is perceptible, not only for the figures anatomical details but, most conspicuously, for the stylised rendition of the rocky hill with its distinctive broken contour, reminiscent of scholar’s rocks (gōngshí), and the quintessentially Chinese depiction of the rúyì shaped clouds, on both the low-relief scene and the incised frame. The rúyì derives from the head of the língzhī, or mushroom of immortality (Ganoderma sichuanense), and symbolises power, good fortune, and fulfilment of wishes. The Chinese word rúyì means literally ‘as you wish’, and the motif, along with its derivative forms, such as the cloud-collar (yúnjiān), is associated with spiritual authority and the attainment of blessings or desires. Linked to immortality through the língzhī, in Daoism the rúyì symbolises longevity and eternal life.
Although the carver clearly followed a European engraving as the basis for his work, the visual source has not yet been identified. Nonetheless, a strikingly similar composition was published ca. 1514 by the Netherlandish painter and engraver Lucas van Leyden (ca. 1494-1533). It features Saint Francis in identical posture, receiving His Stigmata from swooping light rays that connect the hovering Crucifix to His wounds. This engraving is one of Lucas van Leyden’s most praised devotional images. The narrative elements are reduced to a minimum, with the focus on the Saint’s Franciscan habit, His Stigmata, His vision of the crucifix (‘a man like a seraph with six wings’, according to the original Franciscan texts), and His belt with its three knots representing the vows of obedience, poverty and chastity. It has been suggested that this engraving was printed for the members of the sewing, knitting, and clothing guilds of Saint Francis. As in our carving, there is a book, bound in a characteristically late medieval bag-cloth bookbinding, laying on the ground by the Saint, alluding to His meditative existence and to the weeks of intense prayer spent at the mountain retreat, alongside his Franciscan companion, Leo, who is also featured in the engraving.
Van Leyden’s print does not include the egret, bones, or skull as attributes, nor the rocky hill and clouds as scenery, depicting a forest instead. The former iconographic elements, also absent from narratives of this major episode in the Saint’s life, may have been added by the carver or, alternatively, proposed by the patron who commissioned this rare plaque. While the skull and the book are common in other contemporary depictions of the mystical event, the egret, along with a hare, appears in an earlier Netherlandish engraving from ca. 1470-1485, animals being associated with Francis as Patron Saint of birds.
In Christian iconography, the symbolism of human bones is often linked to mortality and the transience of life, perhaps reflecting Saint Francis’s deep spirituality, his embrace of poverty, and his humility in the face of death. Similarly, in Chinese Buddhism, bones represent the impermanence of life, reminding one of the inevitabilities of death and the importance of spiritual liberation. In Taoist thought, such imagery could reflect the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth, or the idea of shedding physical form to attain spiritual immortality.
Egrets, like birds in general, can symbolise purity or spiritual ascension in Christian iconography. In Chinese culture, particularly in the Taoist and Buddhist traditions, egrets are often associated with purity, transcendence, and spiritual freedom, symbolising the soul’s journey toward enlightenment, or immortality.
When connected with Saint Francis Stigmata, these elements - human bones and egret - may emphasise his deep identification with suffering, mortality, and the transcendence of worldly attachments. Thus, by incorporating them, the Chinese master carver seems to be combining Christian ideals of sacrifice and humility with Buddhist or Taoist concepts of impermanence, spiritual ascension, and quest for enlightenment.
For sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Christian believers, particularly those within the devotio moderna movement, the mystical event depicted in this plaque was understood as a powerful symbol of personal and inner piety, and of emulation of Christ’s own suffering. It encouraged a deeper emotional connection with God through humility and meditation on the Passion of Christ, aligning with the movement’s focus on affective devotion.
In the context of missionary practices in Asia, particularly in China and the Philippines, the Stigmata were presented as signs of divine favour and sanctity. Missionaries highlighted this mystical event to reinforce the depth of Christian spirituality, aiding conversion by linking suffering, holiness and divine grace. In the Philippines, the devotion to Christ’s Passion became fundamental, with practices such as Holy Week processions and self-flagellation reflecting this influence. Saint Francis Stigmata strengthen these traditions, fostering strong identification with Christ’s suffering, a devotion that persists today.
Carved mother-of-pearl plaques of such high quality and size, regardless of the uniqueness of its iconography, are exceedingly rare. Based on its thickness, golden body colour and iridescence, the raw material was most likely extracted from the gold-lip variety of the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster shell, the largest pearl oyster species that can grow up to 20-30 cm in diameter and weigh between five and six kilos. The Pinctada maxima pearl oyster occurs naturally in the warm tropical South Pacific waters of the Arafura Sea (off Northern Australia), eastern and northern Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, northern Thailand, and further east to Fiji and Tahiti.
As with local varieties from the Persian Gulf, these oysters usually produce pearls larger than 10 mm diameter, with some reaching 16-17 mm and being known as South Sea pearls. Given its style, it is likely that the shell used for carving this plaque originated off the coast of the Philippines, possibly as a byproduct of pearl fishing, though little is known about this practice in such an early period. More likely, it was sourced for its meat (the adductor muscle), which is considered a delicacy and highly prized in Asia for its medicinal properties.
Only two other devotional plaques similarly carved in mother-of-pearl are known. One, slightly smaller, depicts The Crucifixion (8.8 x 6.7 cm, incl. frame) and was likely modelled after an early sixteenth century European engraving. It once belonged to the José Carlos Telo de Morais collection, in Coimbra. Encased by a lacquered wooden frame, it was acquired to the painter Alberto Hébil (1913-1998) and now belongs to the Museu Municipal de Coimbra (inv. MMC-1-30E). Another plaque, now in the Távora Sequeira Pinto collection, in Oporto, replicates a print depicting Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552), by the Netherlandish artist Hieronymus Wierix (1553-1519). Inside an oval medallion, the Saint, wearing the Jesuit habit, is shown looking upwards with hands crossed over the chest. Beneath it, the carver mistakenly inscribed ‘S. FRAN DE BOrIA’, suggesting a likely commission to create a companion plaque depicting Saint Francis Borgia (1510-1572), for which Wierix also published an engraving. The ‘S.’ at the beginning of the inscription suggests this carving was based on a later version of Wierix’s portrait, likely made after Francis Xavier’s and Francis Borgia beatification, on October 25th, 1619, and November 23rd, 1624 respectively.
Based on a much earlier printed source, our mother-of-pearl carving depicting Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata was likely carved earlier than the plaque of Saint Francis Xavier, probably between the late sixteenth and the early seventeenth century.
It is challenging to pinpoint the exact place of manufacture for these plaques, given that Chinese craftsmen and mestizo artists of Chinese ancestry based in the Philippines, also produced comparable devotional works in ivory of similar style and quality. However, the distinctively Chinese stylistic features and quintessentially Chinese motifs, such as the rúyì-shaped clouds, strongly suggest an origin in the Southeastern coast of China, such as the Provinces of Fujian or Guangdong.
The art of mother-of-pearl carving in China is ancient. Apart from its earliest uses during the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600-1046 BC), mother-of-pearl carving reached a higher level of sophistication during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when minutely engraved inserts in the shape of animals and flowers were inlaid onto luxury mirror backs, furniture, musical instruments, and decorative combs. During the Ming and early Qing dynasties, between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, finely carved and engraved nautilus shells (Nautilus pompilius) were highly prized by European princely collectors and were often decorated with secular, sometimes figurative imagery. Religious carvings conveying Christian iconography, however, must have been rare.
Hugo Miguel Crespo