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Giuseppe Castiglione’s One Hundred Horses in Motions

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By Staff Middle Land

November 30, 2024
4:29 pm
Los Angeles, CA

During the eighteenth century, the Manchu Qing dynasty sponsored a major revival of courtly arts, which attained a new monumental scale, technical finish, and descriptive intricacy. A key figure in establishing this new court aesthetic was the Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione. A master of vividly naturalistic draftsmanship and large-scale compositions, in Europe he worked as a muralist. Castiglione helped to create a new, hybrid style that combined Western realism with traditional Chinese conventions of composition and brushwork. This monumental scroll, a unique example of a Castiglione preparatory drawing, is the model for one of Castiglione’s most famous paintings, the One Hundred Horses scroll preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. The drawing, although done with a brush rather than a pen, is executed almost exclusively in the European manner.

This monumental scroll, a unique example of a Castiglione preparatory drawing, is the model for one of Castiglione’s most famous paintings, the One Hundred Horses scroll preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. The drawing, although done with a brush rather than a pen, is executed almost exclusively in the European manner. Landscape is represented using Western-style perspective, figures are often shown in dramatically foreshortened views, and vegetation is depicted with spontaneous arabesques and cross-hatching. The large scale of the painting also suggests a European influence, as if Castiglione had taken a typical Western canvas and extended its length to make an architectural frieze.

Since 2011, the National Palace Museum initiated a series of high-resolution long-scroll painting animations. Using the latest technology, several high-definition projectors seamlessly unfold sceneries from classical long scroll paintings on the wall. In an effort to render the exquisite details in the masterpiece “One Hundred Horses” by the Qing court painter Giuseppe Castiglione (also known as Lang Shining), the museum upgraded the specifications of the installation to include six seamlessly integrated high-lumen projectors, altogether creating a powerful and immersive multimedia experience.

Incorporating the latest animation technology, this animation film vividly presents Giuseppe Castiglione’s “One Hundred Horses” while remaining faithful to the original masterpiece. The herd of horses from the painting are gorgeously rendered and shown in a variety of poses and activities, such as playfully wrestling, serenely grazing, galloping or fording a river. The storyline revolves around officers tending to the horses throughout the day, starting from the break of dawn and morning activities, to afternoon thundershower, evening dusk and returning home under a starry night. Visitors can fully experience changes around the clock and the beauty of nature as it alternates between sunshine and rain.

Source: The National Palace Museum Taipei, The Metropolitan Museum