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King Garcia II of Kongo Greets Capuchin MissionariesEngraving from Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi and Fortunato Alamandini, Istorica descrittione de' tre regni Congo, Matamba, et Angola (Bologna), p. 336
Author Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo Italian
Not on view
Through Vatican intercession, King Garcia II of Kongo (r. 1641–60) obtained the services of Italian Capuchin missionaries to perform sacraments. The Capuchins sought rigorously to align the Kongo Church with Counter- Reformation theology. Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi de Montecuccolo (1621–1692) was an Italian Capuchin friar sent to Portuguese Angola and the surrounding region from 1654 to 1667 and again from 1673 until 1677. He was assigned to write a history of the mission, published in 1687. The Capuchins responsible for the illustrations had no experience of Africa but may have seen artifacts sent to Europe from the Kongo court. In this scene from Garcia’s reign, the king descends from his throne to greet four Capuchins. His seat features a rectangular tasseled cushion similar to those in European Kunstkammern.
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