Artist: Formerly attributed to Giuseppe Castiglione (Italian, 1688-1766)
Historical Periods: Qing dynasty, mid to late 19th century
Medium: Ink and color on paper
Dimensions: H x W (overall): 81.3 x 2669.5 cm (32 x 1051 in)
Giuseppe Castiglione, also known as Lang Shi’ning, an Italian Jesuit was born in it Milan and continued his art studies through Italy and eventually went to China on missionary. He left such a lasting impression that he became an imperial artist to the next three emperors: Kang Xi, Yong Zheng, and Qian Long. Castiglione introduced an array of European painting techniques, like light, shade, perspective while also maintaing many elements of Chinese art. “Beautiful Ladies Riding” is a perfect example of how diplomatic and cultural exchange has influnced through archqutiture, ecident in the right where we see chapel like buidlings. It’s also evident through it’s copying, it occupies cultural significance in the landscape of Chinese painitngs. As we admire works of art, it’s also important to consider the motives of Castiglione and other Jesuit artist in Asia at the time. As they made their way to Asia they set out to the spread the word of Chrisitanity, and could style of art become a form or tool used to propograte christina values and morals?
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