By Da Yan
Pictures courtesy of the National Palace Museum
It may be difficult to believe that a sublime Chinese landscape was painted by an Italian artist. However, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766), a Baroque-era painter who studied art in Milan, Italy, succeeded in capturing the essence of Chinese landscape painting. He is better known by his Chinese name, Lang Shining.
In one of his paintings, the receding layers of mountains, ridges, and misty valleys, lushly embellished with sinuous pines, illustrate a sensibility to Chinese literati aesthetics. From a secluded villa, two figures stand atop a cliff admiring a waterfall. The water disappears into the mist and re-emerges, from under a footbridge to cascade through a rocky terrain into the foreground. To the left, another villa sits amid the woods, and a gentleman sits in pensive solitude by his hut.
Shan Shui painting is a typical style in traditional Chinese painting. Its essence conveys a sense of mindful expression. Thus, it showed the painter’s imagination, which is completely different from Western realism.
The sense of sublime nature, the insignificance of human presence, and the yearning for a hermetic life were all common themes in Chinese painting. On a closer examination, however, Castiglione’s painted architecture displays a heightened effect of realism seldom seen in contemporary works of this genre. The buildings appear to be rendered from a fixed viewpoint in accordance with a trained, optical perspective.
The masterful techniques of chiaroscuro (strong contrasts between light and dark) and linear perspective were the hallmarks of European art and were especially admired in the imperial court. Castiglione painted this landscape in Beijing in the early 18th century, during a period of increasing cultural exchange between Baroque Europe and Qing Dynasty China.
A Western Touch in Chinese Painting
A few years after Castiglione joined the Jesuit order, he was called to serve his church in a very unconventional way: The 27-year-old artist was sent to China in 1715 to become a court painter for the Qing Dynasty emperors. He lived in Beijing for the next 51 years and executed an impressive number of still lifes and portraits. Throughout the years, he became especially known for his paintings of horses and flowers, which incorporated both European techniques and traditional Chinese symbolism.
He painted Gathering of Auspicious Signs to celebrate Emperor Yongzheng’s coronation in 1722. The double-blossom lotuses and the two-eared grains were symbols of a sagacious rule, while the celadon vase reflected the court fashion of collecting fine antique porcelain. Though Castiglione continued to render shading to create a sense of volume and depth, he nevertheless diminished the use of chiaroscuro and removed the uniform light source. Instead, the lotus flowers glow with a mellow luminosity that is balanced by the warm glaze of the vase. Together, the composition exudes a graceful tranquility that Qing aristocrats greatly appreciated.
Gathering of Auspicious Signs, Qing Dynasty. Castiglione combined Chinese cultural meaning and traditional European painting skills in his work. Since the Song Dynasty, double-blossom lotuses and two-eared grains have symbolized a sagacious ruler. The light on the vase and the petals give the picture a three-dimensional effect, unlike traditional Chinese painting.
Artistic Ambition With a Higher Purpose
Castiglione did not travel to another continent merely to paint at the aristocrats’ pleasure; he firmly believed that his work at the Qing court had a purpose. Though never officially ordained as a priest, Castiglione believed that winning the imperial favor would allow the Jesuits to smoothly carry out their missionary work in China. Therefore, he endured much hardship in the service of the emperor.
Court life for the European artists was not an easy one, especially during the reign of Qianlong (1735–1796), who took a keen interest in Western art. To cater to his taste, Castiglione and his European colleagues had to continually experiment with different artistic styles. They seldom had time for themselves and enjoyed very little freedom. As the emperor enjoyed watching them at work, they were required to paint every day and were often given specific instructions.
One Hundred Horses, Qing Dynasty. Castiglione was especially good at depicting animals, and this is one of his most famous works. He painted the horses in a variety of poses, some stationary and others galloping.
Few of Castiglione’s colleagues were able to endure the isolated and tedious lifestyle. Some complained about the lack of spiritual nourishment, and others simply left the court and returned to Europe. Castiglione, always of a gentle temperament, never complained. For 51 years, he commuted almost daily from his resident church to the studio in the Forbidden City, immersing himself in minute lines and delicate colors. He believed that the realism of European art could serve as a mirror for the Christian faith, and through beauty, his artwork would communicate that truth.
A poem composed toward the end of his life summarizes the extraordinary mind of Giuseppe Castiglione, the artist who believed and persevered:
Endowed with imperial grace in the sagacious age of Kang[xi] and Qian[long],
[I] become a courtier in the dynasty of the Qing;
With Chinese moderacy and Western methods, [I] draw the meticulous brush,
[So that] the true image of still [lifes] may wake ten thousand souls.
Opening image: 清 郎世寧 畫孔雀開屏 軸
This is another of Castiglione’s famous paintings that were done according to Emperor Qianlong’s instructions. During that time, western regions paid tribute to China, the suzerain, with peacocks. Thus, Castiglione received this special request from Qianlong. He not only captured the beauty of the peacock’s fanned tail, but also included several plants —magnolia, peony, and begonia—to symbolize the theme of “wealth and rank in the jade hall.”
