Giuseppe Castiglione (郎世寧)
A Jesuit missionary paints the emperor of China
Portrait of Lady Hojai
Giuseppe Castiglione was 26 when he stepped off a trading ship from Lisbon into the docks of the Chinese port city of Guangzhou. It was 1714, and trade with China was just beginning. The young man was a Jesuit missionary and a painter, sent from his home in Italy to bring Jesus to the people of China. News of his arrival was sent to the Emperor Kangxi, in Beijing, who summoned Castiglione to the royal palace. We don't know what the emperor thought of Jesus, but he sure liked Castiglione's painting.
Giuseppe Castiglione spent the rest of his life in the courts of the Qing Dynasty, growing close with three different emperors, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and finally Qianlong, documenting their military successes, their favorite horses, and their families. Castiglione also took on a new name, Lang Shi'ning, and fused eastern and western painting styles. His paintings were prized by the emperors, who often added poems in their own calligraphy to the work. Late in his life, emperor Qianlong inscribed a hanging scroll titled Spring's Peaceful Message with this note: "In portraiture Shi'ning is masterful. He painted me during my younger days; the white-headed one who enters the room today does not recognize who this is."
Reed Enger, "Giuseppe Castiglione (郎世寧), A Jesuit missionary paints the emperor of China," in Obelisk Art History, Published May 14, 2016; last modified October 31, 2022, http://arthistoryproject.com/artists/giuseppe-castiglione/.
chinaculture.org: A Successful Integration of Chinese and Western Painting
wikipedia.org: Giuseppe Castiglione (Jesuit)
chinaonlinemuseum.com: Lang Shining
Giuseppe Castiglione (郎世寧) was a Chinese artist born on July 19, 1688. Castiglione (郎世寧) contributed to the Qing Dynasty movement and died on July 17, 1766.
One Hundred Horses 1728
One Hundred Horses — Detail 1 1728
Peacock Spreading Its Tail Feathers 1758
The Qianlong Emperor in Ceremonial Armour 1758
Portrait of Consort Chunhui 1760
Portrait of Lady Hoja 1760
Portraits of Emperor Qianlong, the Empress, and Eleven Imperial Consorts 1736 – 1770
Qing Dynasty Artists
Castiglione (郎世寧)'s Contemporaries
Wang Hui (王翚)
An ambitious young artist unifies China's historical painting styles
Giulia Lama
Jean-Antoine Watteau
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo