Macao, China: the ruins of St Paul's church. Photograph by John Thomson, 1870.

The preserved façade of an otherwise ruined church, with a flight of steps leading up to it. Another building to the right. A person standing at ground level, two more on the steps. The image is indistinct

The ruins of St Paul's, Macau, 1870. The ruinous church of St Paul, which stands adjacent to the Mount Fortress was first constructed in 1580 by the Jesuit mission, and then rebuilt from 1602. The Baroque-style stone façade was completed in 1627 by a group of exiled Japanese Christians. The church was burned down in 1835. The surviving façade, with its four tiers of colonnades, is covered with carvings and statues that eloquently illustrate the early days of the Christian Church in Asia, and is regarded by many as a perfect fusion of western and eastern cultures. There are statues of the Virgin and saints, symbols of the Garden of Eden and the Crucifixion, angels and the Devil, a Chinese dragon and a Japanese chrysanthemum, a Portuguese sailing ship and pious warnings inscribed in Chinese

1872.

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion

Ruin of church, Macao, China, 1872 Bears Thomson's negative number: "287"

This is one of a collection of original glass negatives made by John Thomson. The negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 161 (reproduced)

Wellcome Collection 18836i