COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1969.31
amicoid
CMA_.1969.31
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1998
aly
1998
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Paintings
oty
Paintings
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Lang, Shining
crn
Lang, Shining
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
Italian
crc
Italian
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Role:
artist
crr
artist
Creator Role
false
Creator Dates/Places:
1688 - 1768
cdt
1688 - 1768
Creator Dates/Places
false
Gender:
M
cgn
M
Gender
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Shining Lang
crt
Shining Lang
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
Inauguration Portraits of Emperor Qianlong, the Empress and Eleven Imperial Consorts
otn
Inauguration Portraits of Emperor Qianlong, the Empress and Eleven Imperial Consorts
Title
false
Title Type:
Primary
ott
Primary
Title Type
false
View:
Detail
rid
Detail
View
false
Creation Date:
1736
oct
1736
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1736
ocs
1736
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1736
oce
1736
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
handscroll, ink and color on silk
omd
handscroll, ink and color on silk
Materials and Techniques
false
Dimensions:
Image: 53cm x 688.3cm, Overall: 53.8cm x 1154.5cm
met
Image: 53cm x 688.3cm, Overall: 53.8cm x 1154.5cm
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
oon
The Cleveland Museum of Art
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
oop
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1969.31
ooa
1969.31
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
John L. Severance Fund
ooc
John L. Severance Fund
Credit Line
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html"target="_new">http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html</a>
Rights
false
Context:
Almost from its inception in 1534, the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits, sent missionaries to the Far East. Unlike other European religious orders, the Jesuits sought to gain influence and, consequently, converts by introducing specialized Western knowledge to the elites in the regions they visited. By the late seventeenth century, Jesuits trained in technical fields as diverse as hydraulics, astronomy, and cartography were resident in Beijing and serving the emperor. At the same time, the society sent other members like Giuseppe Castiglione who affected the training and style of artists and artisans at court. Castiglione, a Jesuit born in Milan and trained in European painting techniques, proved influential and painted for three different Chinese emperors. Epitomizing Jesuit attitudes, Castiglione not only taught Western methods of perspective and chiaroscuro to his Chinese pupils but also studied his students' traditional watercolor techniques, eventually achieving his own synthetic stylecombining the two. This impressive scroll, depicting the Qianlong emperor (ruled 1736-96) as well as his empress and concubines, clearly illustrates Castiglione's favor at court. According to the inscription that accompanies the portraits, the painting was made on the day Qianlong ascended the throne. For this imperial project, the painter chose an extremely formal manner, presenting full frontal busts that are almost life size. Borrowed from the indigenous traditions of Chinese imperial and ancestor portraiture, the faces and richly embroidered robes are depicted rather flatly so that their features are unobscured by dramatic shadow. Castiglione logically concentrated on the emperor and empress and may only have sketched the remaining figures, leaving them for others to complete. The last three figures, added to the scroll after Qianlong's death and obviously different from the rest, must have been painted by a Chinese artist less experienced in the Western manner. This is not the only change introducedafter the scroll was created. Recent examination has illustrated that all the labels accompanying the portraits were at some point erased and rewritten. Perhaps done following Qianlong's death when the other figures were added, this discovery has prompted renewed study of the history of this important scroll, one of the most powerful imperial images in all of Chinese art. K.W.
cxd
Almost from its inception in 1534, the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits, sent missionaries to the Far East. Unlike other European religious orders, the Jesuits sought to gain influence and, consequently, converts by introducing specialized Western knowledge to the elites in the regions they visited. By the late seventeenth century, Jesuits trained in technical fields as diverse as hydraulics, astronomy, and cartography were resident in Beijing and serving the emperor. At the same time, the society sent other members like Giuseppe Castiglione who affected the training and style of artists and artisans at court. Castiglione, a Jesuit born in Milan and trained in European painting techniques, proved influential and painted for three different Chinese emperors. Epitomizing Jesuit attitudes, Castiglione not only taught Western methods of perspective and chiaroscuro to his Chinese pupils but also studied his students' traditional watercolor techniques, eventually achieving his own synthetic stylecombining the two. This impressive scroll, depicting the Qianlong emperor (ruled 1736-96) as well as his empress and concubines, clearly illustrates Castiglione's favor at court. According to the inscription that accompanies the portraits, the painting was made on the day Qianlong ascended the throne. For this imperial project, the painter chose an extremely formal manner, presenting full frontal busts that are almost life size. Borrowed from the indigenous traditions of Chinese imperial and ancestor portraiture, the faces and richly embroidered robes are depicted rather flatly so that their features are unobscured by dramatic shadow. Castiglione logically concentrated on the emperor and empress and may only have sketched the remaining figures, leaving them for others to complete. The last three figures, added to the scroll after Qianlong's death and obviously different from the rest, must have been painted by a Chinese artist less experienced in the Western manner. This is not the only change introducedafter the scroll was created. Recent examination has illustrated that all the labels accompanying the portraits were at some point erased and rewritten. Perhaps done following Qianlong's death when the other figures were added, this discovery has prompted renewed study of the history of this important scroll, one of the most powerful imperial images in all of Chinese art. K.W.
Context
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.1969.31det08.tif
ril
CMA_.1969.31det08.tif
Related Image Identifier Link
false