The painting of Father Bourel: paths of a painting

ABSTRACT This is a study on painting Fr. Filipe Bourel’s Death (A Morte do Padre Filipe Bourel), an anonymous oil painting that alludes to an organized Jesuit mission among the Paiacu nation natives at the end of the 17th century, belonging to the “18th Century Portuguese School”. Possibly the painting was part of a great liturgical and devotional commission to ornament the churches erected during the Jesuit missionary expansion by the Northern Captaincies. It refers to the Baroque tradition and follows the model of representation of Saint Francis Xavier’s death on the beaches of Goa. By applying the biographical method in the image analysis, the text shows the transit of this painting from its probable origin in a confessional workshop, its ornamental and devotional role in a peripheral church of the Portuguese empire, and from there to the circuits of collectors and art auctions until their forms reception in contemporary culture.

摘要：本研究围绕匿名油画《神父腓力·布勒尔之死》（A Morte do Padre Filipe Bourel）展开。该作品暗指17世纪末帕亚库族原住民聚居区开展的有组织耶稣会传教活动，隶属于「18世纪葡萄牙画派」。其大概率曾为一项大型礼拜与灵修委托创作的组成部分，用于装饰葡萄牙北部都督辖区内因耶稣会传教扩张而兴建的教堂。作品遵循巴洛克艺术传统，复刻了圣方济各·沙勿略在果阿海滩逝世的经典表现范式。本研究采用传记分析法开展图像解读，梳理了这幅作品的流转脉络：从其极有可能诞生的忏悔工坊，到它在葡萄牙帝国边陲教堂中承担的装饰与灵修功能，再经藏家流通与艺术拍卖渠道，最终进入当代文化的接受视野。