Portrait of the Imperial Guard Zhanyinbao
Under the Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty, portraiture again became an important court-sponsored art. This full-length depiction of an imperial bodyguard of the first rank is from a set of one hundred portraits of loyal officials and valiant warriors commissioned by the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736–95) that originally hung in the Hall of Imperial […]
Silken Treasure
The Italian city of Como, celebrated for its silk and scenery, has inspired notables from Leonardo da Vinci to Winston Churchill “The silkworm is a snob,” says Moritz Mantero. “He’ll eat anything, but he produces silk only if he eats mulberry!” Mantero is the third-generation owner of Mantero Seta SpA, one of the largest silk […]