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Giuseppe Castiglione, S.J. (; 19 July 1688 – 17 July 1766), was an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-famili ...
and missionary in China, where he served as an artist at the imperial court of three
Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
emperors – the
Kangxi The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
,
Yongzheng , regnal name = , posthumous name = Emperor Jingtian Changyun Jianzhong Biaozhen Wenwu Yingming Kuanren Xinyi Ruisheng Daxiao Zhicheng Xian()Manchu: Temgetulehe hūwangdi () , temple name = Shizong()Manchu: Šidzung () , house = Aisin Gioro ...
and
Qianlong The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...
emperors. He painted in a style that is a fusion of European and Chinese traditions.


Early life

Castiglione was born in Milan's San Marcellino district on 19 July 1688. He was educated at home with a private tutor, then a common practice among wealthy families. He also learned to paint under the guidance of a master. In 1707, he entered the Society of Jesus in Genoa aged 19. Although a
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
, he was never ordained as a priest, instead joining as a
lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...
.


Works


Paintings

In the late 17th century, a number of European Jesuit painters served in the Qing court of the
Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
who was interested in employing European Jesuits trained in various fields, including painting. In the early 18th century,
Jesuits in China The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a si ...
made a request for a painter to be sent to the imperial court in Beijing. Castiglione was identified as a promising candidate and he accepted the post. In 1710, on the way to Lisbon, he passed through
Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Lisbon, Por ...
where he stayed for several years to decorate the chapel of St. Francis Borgia in the Church of the novitiate, today the New Cathedral of Coimbra. He painted several panels in the chapel and a ''
Circumcision of Jesus The circumcision of Jesus is an event from the life of Jesus, according to the Gospel of Luke chapter 2, which states: And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, his name was called Jesus, the name called by the angel before ...
'' for the main altar of the same church. In August 1715, Castiglione arrived in Macau, China, and reached Beijing later in the year. He stayed at a Jesuit church called St Joseph Mission or Eastern Hall (''Dong Tang'') in Chinese. He was presented to the Kangxi Emperor who viewed his painting of a dog, another source said a bird was also painted on the spot on Kangxi's request. He was assigned a few disciples, but was placed to work as an artisan in the palace enameling workshop. While in China, Castiglione took the name ''Lang Shining'' (郞世寧). Castiglione adapted his European painting style to Chinese themes and taste. His earliest surviving painting created in such style was from the first year of
Yongzheng , regnal name = , posthumous name = Emperor Jingtian Changyun Jianzhong Biaozhen Wenwu Yingming Kuanren Xinyi Ruisheng Daxiao Zhicheng Xian()Manchu: Temgetulehe hūwangdi () , temple name = Shizong()Manchu: Šidzung () , house = Aisin Gioro ...
's reign in 1723. He was permitted to leave the enamel workshop by Yongzheng as it was affecting his eyesight. Although Castaglione was favored by Yongzheng who commissioned a number of works by him, Yongzheng's reign was a difficult period for the Jesuits as Christianity was suppressed and those missionaries not working for the emperor were expelled. His skill as an artist was appreciated by the
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...
, and Castiglione served the Emperor for three decades and was granted increasingly higher official rank within the Qing court. He spent many years in the court painting various subjects, including the portraits of the emperor and empress. Qianlong showed particularly interest in paintings of tribute horses presented to the Emperor on which Castiglione painted a series, such as the ''
Four Afghan Steeds ''Four Afghan Steeds'' (Chinese: 爱乌罕四骏图) is a series of four portraits of Afghan horses donated to Emperor Qianlong of China in 1763 by Emir Ahmad Shah of Afghanistan, and painted on a silk roll by the Milanese Jesuit missionary Giu ...
''. In 1765, Castiglione and other Jesuit painters also created a series of "Battle Copper Prints" commissioned by the Emperor to commemorate his military campaigns. Small-scale copies of his paintings were shipped to Paris and rendered into engravings with etching before being returned to China. This series of sixteen prints by Castiglione (who contributed two) and his contemporaries Jean-Denis Attiret,
Ignatius Sichelbart Ignatius Sichelbart also Sickelbart, Sickelpart; Chinese 艾啟蒙 / 艾启蒙 Ài Qǐměng or Ai Ch'i-meng; (September 26, 1708 Nejdek – October 6, 1780 Beijing), was a German-Bohemian Jesuit missionary and painter. After his novitiate ...
and Jean-Damascène Sallusti were created in this way. Castiglione died in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
on 17 July 1766. An obituary was personally penned by Qianlong, who also erected a special stone in Castiglione's memory. He was buried in the Jesuits'
Zhalan Cemetery Zhalan Cemetery ( zh, 滕公栅栏; zh, p=ténggōng zhàlan) is a former Jesuit burial ground in Beijing. It was initially established in the late Ming Dynasty for the burial of Matteo Ricci. The current setup is a restoration using origin ...
in Beijing.


Architecture

In addition to his skill as a painter, he was also in charge of designing the Western-Style Palaces in the imperial gardens of the Old Summer Palace with assistance from other Jesuits such as Jean-Denis Attiret. The project was initiated by Qianlong in 1747 in a garden once used by Yongzheng, with the construction of European-style palaces and gardens, aviaries, a maze, and perspective paintings organized as an outdoor theatrical stage, as well as fountains and waterworks designed by
Michel Benoist Michel Benoist (, 8 October 1715 in Dijon, France – 23 October 1774 in Beijing, China) was a Jesuit scientist who served for thirty years in the court of the Qianlong Emperor (1735 - 1796) during the Qing Dynasty, known for his architectur ...
. Castiglione also created '' trompe-l'œil'' paintings on the walls of the palaces. The buildings, however, were destroyed in 1860 during the Second Opium War. Castiglione's architectural works were lost, although influences of his ''trompe-l'œil'' murals survive in paintings on walls and ceilings which were executed by his assistant in Juanqinzhai in Qianlong Garden in the Forbidden City.


Style and techniques

Castiglione's style of painting is a unique blend of European and Chinese compositional sensibility, technique and themes. He adjusted the European style he was trained in to suit Chinese taste; for example, strong shadows used in
chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...
techniques were unacceptable in portraiture as the Qianlong Emperor thought that shadows looked like dirt, therefore when Castiglione painted the Emperor, the intensity of the light was reduced so that there was no shadow on the face, and the features were distinct. Emperors also preferred to have their portraits painted full face with a frontal posture; therefore, the royal portraits are usually painted in such a manner. The paintings were done on silk, and unlike European painting where mistakes can be reworked, in Chinese painting, where brushwork on silk is almost impossible to be removed, it requires careful and precise painting. The painting needed to be worked out in detail beforehand, which Castiglione did in a preparatory drawing on paper before he traced the design onto silk. An example is the most important early work by Castiglione, ''One Hundred Horses in a Landscape'' (百駿圖), for which the preparatory drawings survive. It was painted in 1728 for the Yongzheng emperor. Some of the horses are in a 'flying gallop' pose, which had not been done before by European painters. The painting was executed using tempera on silk in the form of a Chinese handscroll of nearly eight meters in length. It was largely done in a European style in accordance with the rules of perspective, and with a consistent light source. However, the dramatic chiaroscuro shading typical of
Baroque painting Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival, Castiglione was assisted in many of his paintings by a number of court painters. For example, in the painting ''Deer Hunting Patrol'' (哨鹿圖, ''Shaolutu''), he would be responsible for painting the portraits of the emperor and other officials on horseback. Other members of the hunting party, the trees and landscape however would be painted by other court painters in a Chinese style that is distinctly different from Castiglione's.


Legacy

Due to Castiglione's work,
Qing court paintings began to show a clear Western influence. Other European painters followed and a new school of painting was created that combined Chinese and Western methods. The influence of Western art on the Qing court paintings is particularly evident in the light, shade, perspective, as well as the priority given to recording contemporary events. In 2005, Castiglione became the subject of the
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...
''Palace Artist'' in China, played by Canadian-Chinese actor
Dashan Mark Henry Rowswell, CM (born May 23, 1965), better known by his Chinese stage name Dashan (), is a Canadian comedian and television personality popular in China. Relatively unknown in the West, from the late 1980s through the early 2000s Da ...
(Mark Rowswell), and broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV).. He is briefly portrayed at the end of the 48th episode of ''
Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace ''Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace'' (, lit. ''The Legend of Ruyi'') is a 2018 Chinese television series based on novel ''Hou Gong Ru Yi Zhuan'' by Liu Lianzi. Starring Zhou Xun and Wallace Huo, the series chronicles the relationship between Emp ...
'', painting the emperor and the empress together in one of the few happy episode of the TV series.


Gallery

File:《心写治平》乾隆部分.jpg, The
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...
File:清 郎世宁绘《清高宗乾隆帝朝服像》.jpg, Another image of
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...
File:The Qianlong Emperor in Ceremonial Armour on Horseback.jpg, Qianlong Emperor in Ceremonial Armour File:The Qianlong Emperor Viewing Paintings.jpg, ''The Qianlong Emperor Viewing Paintings'', c. 1746-50 File:Qianlong emperor hunting.jpg, Qianlong Emperor chasing a deer on a hunting trip File:Aquatic Plants and Fish.jpg, ''Fish and Aquatic plants'' File:White Falcon.jpg File:White Falcon by Giuseppe Castiglione.jpg File:A Colorful Spring.jpg File:Cranes under Shadow of Flowers.jpg File:Peacock Spreads Its Tail.jpg, ''Peacock Spreads its Tail'' File:The Pine, Hawk and Glossy Ganoderma.jpg, ''The Pine, Hawk and Glossy Ganoderma'', painted in honour of Yongzheng's birthday, 1724 File:Cochin Lemur.jpg, ''Cochin Lemur'' File:White Ape.jpg, ''A white ape'' File:Qianlong collecting lingzhi.jpg, ''Qianlong collecting lingzhi'' File:Ten Prized Dogs 04.jpg, One of a series in Ten Prized Dogs File:Dog Under Flowers.jpg File:Auspicious Roe Deer.jpg File:Horse Hongyuzuo.jpg File:Horse Chaoni'er.jpg, One of Giuseppe Castiglione's '' Afghan Four Steeds'', features a horse named ''Chaoercong'' (超洱骢, literally Exceeding Piebald). File:Langshiming mao.JPG, ''
Ayusi Ayusi (; ) was a Dzungar officer of the Qing dynasty. He is best known for his achievements against the Dzungar Khanate The Dzungar Khanate, also written as the Zunghar Khanate, was an Inner Asian khanate of Oirat Mongol origin. At ...
Sweeping Bandits with a Lance'' File:Ayusi Assailing The Rebels with a Lance.jpg, ''Ayusi assailing the rebels with a lance'' File:Flowers in a Vase.jpg, ''Flowers in a Vase'' File:Everlasting Spring and Long Life.jpg File:Followers in the Vase.jpg, ''Flowers in the Vase'' File:Time-Telling Plant from the West.jpg, ''Mimosa pudica''


See also

*
Jean Denis Attiret Jean Denis Attiret (, 31 July 1702 – 8 December 1768) was a French Jesuit painter and missionary to Qing China. Early life Attiret was born in Dole, France. He studied art in Rome and made himself a name as a portrait painter. While ...
* Louis Antoine de Poirot * Giuseppe Panzi *
Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the , a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters. ...
* Ignaz Sichelbarth


Bibliography

* Robert Loehr, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766) pittore di corte di Ch’ien-Lun, imperatore della Cina (Rome: ISMEO, 1940). * George Robert Loehr, “European Artists at the Chinese Court,” in The Westward Influence of the Chinese Arts from the 14th to the 18th Century, ed. William Watson, Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia, no. 3 (London: Percival David Foundation, 1972): 333–42. * Joseph Deheregne, Répertoire des Jésuites de Chine de 1552 à 1800 (Rome: Institutum Historicum S. I., 1973), 95. * Willard Peterson, “Learning from Heaven: the introduction of Christianity and other Western ideas into late Ming China,” in The Cambridge History of China, ed. Denis Twitchett and Frederick W. Mote, 15 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988), 8:789–839. * Cécile Beurdeley and Michel Beurdeley, Giuseppe Castiglione: A Jesuit Painter at the Court of the Chinese Emperors (London: Lund Humphrey, 1972). * Hongxing Zhang, ed., The Qianlong Emperor: Treasures from the Forbidden City (Edinburgh: NMS, 2002). * Evelyn Rawski and Jessica Rawson, China: The Three Emperors 1662–1795 (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2005). * John W. O’Malley et al., eds., The Jesuits: Cultures, Sciences, and the Arts 1540–1773, (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1999). * Ho Wai-kam, ed., Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1980), 355. * Memoria Postuma Fratris Josephi Castiglione, Bras. 28, ff. 92r–93v, Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (ARSI), Rome. * Georg Pray, ed., Imposturae CCXVIII. in dissertatione R. P. Benedicto Cetto, Clerici Regularis e Scholis Piis de Sinensium Importuris Detectae et convulsae. Accedunt Epistolae Anecdotae R. P. Augustini e Comitibus Hallerstain ex China scriptae (Buda: Typis Regiae Universitatis, 1791). * Marco Musillo, “La famille de Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766)”, (Paris: Thalia Edition, 2007). * Marco Musillo, “Les peintures génoises de Giuseppe Castiglione”, (Paris: Thalia Edition, 2007). * Michèle Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens, Giuseppe Castiglione 1688-1766: Peintre et architecte à la cour de Chine (Paris: Thalia Edition, 2007), 18–25. * Marco Musillo, “Bridging Europe and China: The Professional Life of Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766)” tesi di dottorato (University of East Anglia, 2006). * Marco Musillo: "Reconciling two careers: the Jesuit Memoir of Giuseppe Castiglione lay brother and Qing imperial painter" in ''Eighteenth-Century Studies'', vol. 42, no. 1 (2008) Pp. 45–59. * Antonio Franco, Synopsis Annalium Societatis Jesu in Lusitania ab anno 1540 usque ad annum 1725 (Lisbon: Real collegio das artes da Companhia de Jesus, 1760), 441; e Imagem da Virtude em o Noviciado da Companhia de Jesus do Real Collegio do Espirito Santo de Evora (Lisbon: Real collegio das artes da Companhia de Jesus, 1714), 57. * Relazione scritta da Monsignor Vescovo di Pechino al P. Giuseppe Cerù, in ordine alla Publicazione de Decreti apostolici (1715), ms. 1630, ff. 146r–152v, f. 149r. Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome. * Copie manoscritte di vari scritti del Servo di Dio Matteo Ripa (1874), Cina e Regni Adiacenti Miscellanea 16, f. 21r, 26 December 1715, APF, Roma. * Yang Boda, “The Development of the Ch’ien-lung Painting Academy,” in Words and Images, ed. Alfreda Murck and Wen C.Fong (New York: Princeton Univ. Press, 1991), 333–56, 345. * George Robert Loehr, “Giuseppe Castiglione,” Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1970), 22:92–94, 93. * Father Jean Sylvain de Neu-vialle (Newielhe, 1696–1764) Relaçao da jornada, que fez ao Imperio da China, e sumamria noticia da embaixada, que deo na Corte de Pekim Em o primeiro de Mayo de 1753, o Senhor Francisco Xavier Assiz Pacheco e Sampayo (Lisbon: Officina dos Herd. De Antonio Pedrozo Galram, 1754), 8. * Edward J. Malatesta and Gao Zhiyu, eds., Departed, yet Present. Zhalan the Oldest Christian Cemetery in Beijing (Macau and San Francisco: Instituto Cultural de Macau and Ricci Institute, 1995), 217. * Lo-shu Fu, A Documentary Chronicle of Sino-Western Relations (1644–1820), 2 vols. (Tucson: Univ. of Arizona Press, 1966), 1:188–89. * Ishida Mikinosuke, “A Biographical Study of Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shih ning) a Jesuit Painter in the Court of Peking under the Ch’ing Dynasty,” Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko, no. 19 (1960): 79–121, 88–90. * ''Lang Shining xiaozhuan'' (Short biography of Lang Shining) in "Gugong bowuyuan yuankan", n. 2, 1988, pp. 3–26, 91-95. * Aimé -Martin, M. L. (ed.) ''Lettres édifiantes et curieuses concernant l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amérique, avec quelques relations nouvelles des missions, et des notes géographiques et historiques'', Paris 1838-1843, vol. II, III, IV. * Beurdeley, C. et M., ''Castiglione, peintre jesuite a la cour de Chine'', Fribourg 1971. * Chayet, A., ''Une description tibétaine de Yuanmingyuan, in Le "Yuanmingyuan". Jeux d'eau et palais européens du XVIIIe siecle a la cour de Chine'', Paris 1987. * Cheng, T. K., ''Chinese Nature Painting'', in "Renditions", n. 9, spring 1978, pp. 5–29. * Durand, A., ''Restitution des palais européens du Yuanmingyuan'', in "Arts Asiatiques", vol. XLIII, 1988, pp. 123–133. * Hou Jinlang- Pirazzoli, M., ''Les chasses d'automne de l'empereur Qianlong à Mulan'', in "T'oung Pao", vol. LXV, 1-3, pp. 13–50. * Hucker, C., A ''Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China'', Stanford 1985. * Jonathan, P.-Durant, A., ''La promenade occidentale de l'empereur Qianlong, in Le "Yuanmingyuan". Jeux d'eau et palais européens du XVIIIe siecle a la cour de Chine'', Paris 1987, pp. 19–33. * Ju Deyuan-Tian Jieyi-Ding Qiong, ''Qing gongtong huajia Lang Shining'', in "Gugong bowuyuan yuankan", n. 2, 1988, pp. 27–28. * Kao Mayching, M., ''China's Response to the West Art'': 1898-1937, Ann Arbor, Mich. 1972. * ''Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, écrites des Missions Etrangères'', Nouvelle edition, Paris 1781, vol. XXII, XXIII, XXIV. * Liu Pinsan, ''Huama he Lang Shining "Bajuntu"'' in "Gugong bowuyuan yuankan", n. 2, 1988, pp. 88–90. * Nie Chongzheng, ''Lang Shining'', Beijing 1984.


References


External links


Lang Shining and his Painting Gallery
at China Online Museum

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060306070429/http://www.dashan.com/en/projects/lang.htm ''Palace Artist'' on Mark Rowswell's websitebr>'Immortal Blossoms in an Everlasting Spring'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castiglione, Giuseppe 1688 births 1766 deaths Artists from Milan Qing dynasty painters 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Botanical illustrators 18th-century Italian Jesuits Roman Catholic religious brothers Jesuit missionaries in China Jesuit missionaries Italian Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in China Italian expatriates in China Qianlong Emperor