Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

Introduction

Born in Milan, Italy in the year 1688, Giuseppe Castiglione was a catholic Jesuit missionary as well as a talented artist with a specialization in painting and architecture. By 1715, his artwork had become so popular among the Chinese that he was appointed as the official court painter of the Qing dynasty at the time of emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. Apart from making some of the bet pieces of art for the Qing dynasty, Castiglione also made tremendous contributions in the court's architecture. He played a crucial role in upgrading the Yuanmingyuan building. He was exceptionally good at the adoption of Chinese painting techniques while maintaining the basic features of Western art. Today, some of the major art museums of the world have Castiglione's works on display.

Giuseppe Castiglione was a catholic Jesuit missionary as well as a talented artist who specialized in painting and architecture. By 1715, his artwork had become so popular among the Chinese that he was appointed as the official court painter of the Qing dynasty at the time of emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. In the field of art, Castiglione specialized in making portraits of wildlife, nature, birds and flowers. He also worked extensively on creating artwork on battle figures. Castiglione's works gained rapid popularity as they were a blend of western and Chinese styles.

Discussion

Based on the characteristics of Western and Chinese painting techniques, Castiglione created heavy perspective and shading portraits that were delicate, blooming and proportioned. Some of his most famous works include Emperor Qianlong on Horse (1739), Illustration of Victory (1770), and a later version of Qianlong's Equestrian Portrait. In the year 1715, Castiglione sailed to the shores of China as a catholic missionary. He was summoned to the palace by the Kangxi who was the ruling emperor of the time. Kangxi was very fascinated and intrigued by Western art.

Consequently, Castiglione began a career as a court painter and served the emperor for more than fifty years. It did not take Castiglione much time to specialize in Chinese painting techniques. With time, he learned to mix and blend western painting and art techniques with those of Chinese origin. The result was amazing as Castiglione was able to specialize in one form fine realistic effects. He created a new style of his own therefore, which was looked upon with regard by emperors Kangxi , Yongzheng and Qianlong, who were all very fascinated by Castiglione's works.

In 1724, Giuseppe Castiglione had also participated in the Summer Palace, the design and construction of the Western-style buildings in Changchun Park, draw a large number of pictures for decoration of palace buildings, Western oil painting, also in the focus of the performance of a far-reaching effect on the plane the diorama (line painting) . The Haiyan front of bronze zodiac animal heads, also due to his credit, for Castiglione once served as Bong sorrow Yuan Qing (positive Sanpin) official. Castiglione's artistic style had a far-reaching impact during the Yongzheng period which was characterized by a marked decline in ...