The Chinese Goddess Pusa in Two Forms, Bernard Picart (workshop of), after anonymous, 1726
etching, h 332mm × w 218mm More details
Standing in front of a pagoda and a rocky landscape is the Buddhist deity bodhisattva (Pusa). Picart portrayed her as the ancient Greek goddess Cybele. This was hardly new, for Jesuit writers had been disseminating this image since the early 17th century. This is but one example of Picart’s Eurocentric viewpoint, full of misconceptions about Chinese religion, which persisted despite the increasing trade exchange with China.
