For the past 400 years it was a Buddhist work of art; before that, for at least 100 years, it was a Christian icon; and even before that, for ca. 300 years, it was a Manichaean work of art. Tthe iconography of this image is Manichaean from southern China from the 12th/13th centuries. Comparative visual data on ceremonial garments and depictions of deities are supplied by Chinese-style Manichaean works of art from 11th-century Xinjiang and 15th-century Fujian. Textual evidence on the well-known worship of Jesus and the use of images in Manichaeism are provided by primary and secondary literature. One of them is a 12th-century southern Chinese memorial that records the titles of six Manichaean paintings, including Yishu Fo Zheng; the most likely subject of this very image. Studying this painting allows us not only to think about questions of iconography, style, and context, but more importantly, provides a unique opportunity to use the tools of art history for solving a complex case of religious metamorphosis.
dating back to conversations with his grandfather, Gaston Frank. "He said we represent one of the last descendants of the Frankist Jewish faith in the world," he muses. "I grew up thinking that our family was something like the Last of the Mohicans."