Giuseppe Castiglione’s One Hundred Horses in Motions
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 […]
Painting Anime: Up the River During Qingming
Up the River During Qingming is a masterpiece of genre painting, with many replications done over the centuries. This version, completed in 1736, the first year of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign, was the collaborative effort of five Qing court artists. The scroll can be divided into several major parts, including the rustic setting at the […]