 | Castiglione (Giuseppe)
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1688-1766
( Chinese name: Lang Shih-ning 郎世寧)
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Almost 100 years after the death of Matteo Ricci in Peking (Ricci died in 1610 and Castiglione arrived in Peking in 1715), a famous Italian Jesuit, who was an architect and a painter, Giuseppe Castiglione, continued the Ricci way of dialoguing with Chinese artists by introducing Western techniques into China and at the same time learning Chinese skills. In this process of giving and receiving, Castiglione can be considered a worthy disciple of Matteo Ricci.
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Giuseppe Castiglione was born on July 19, 1688, in the central San Marcellino district of Milan, Italy, the site of a renowned painting studio (Botteghe degli Stampatori). As a youth, Castiglione learned to paint from a master at the studio, and he also came under the influence of the famous painter Andrea Pozzo, a member of the Society of Jesus at Trento.
In 1707, at the age of 19, Castiglione formally entered the Society of Jesus and traveled to the prosperous city of Genoa for further training. By this time, he had already achieved some repute as a painter and was invited to do wall paintings at Jesuit churches. In 1715, at the age of 27, he received instructions to go to China, and, on the journey, did wall paintings in Jesuit churches in Coimbra (Portugal) and then in Macao (China). He passed through Canton, and he arrived in Peking at the end of December 1715. He remained in Peking 50 years. He became the most wellknown European painter, who could assimilate so much Chinese art that his masterpieces were considered an excellent model of Eat-West creation. Castiglione worked under three outstanding Qing Emperors: Emperors Kangxi (1662 - 1722), Yongzheng (1723 - 1735) and Qianlong (1736 - 1795) and acted as their imperial artist. During that time, he gradually absorbed the style of Chinese traditional arts and finished several famous works.
In 1723, Castiglione met Nian Xiyao, a Chinese artist in charge of manufacturing ceramics for the Imperial palace. Nian Xiyao was very eager to know more about “Western perspective” as presented by the book of Castiglione’s teacher Andrea Pozzo. As a result of this exchance, Nian Xiyao wrote a book on Western perspective, in which he speaks of “Chinese Tradition of Perspective” and “Western Perspective”, and how to use them in paintings and architecture. The book was titled Shixue.
In this way, Castiglione can be called one of the first European painters to introduce Western concepts into Chinese art. At the same time he became the first foreign painter to absorb so much Chinese painting skills as to being able of combining Western perspective and use of light and shade with Chinese subjects and composition.
Giuseppe Castiglione, besides working at the court of the Emperor, drew several oil paintings for the Catholic churches in Peking. He died in Peking in 1766, and was buried in the Portuguese cemetery in Peking.
His Chinese name was Lang Shining (郎世寧). He is remembered in Chinese history by this name.
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Each Emperor employed the greatest artists and craftsmen of his day to glorify his rule. The Qing were curious about foreign dress and practices and recorded them in several paintings. The Jesuits, who had gone to China to evangelise in the 16th and 17th centuries, became important members of the Emperor’s Court, providing technical advice on scientific instruments and inspiring Chinese court artists to emulate foreign styles.
The period of Emperor Qianlong was the most prosperous time in Qing Dynasty in Chinese history, and art also came to its peak. The Imperial Painting Academy included the Jesuit Castiglione, who was one of the most talented and renowned artists in China at that time. Emperor Kangxi (Qianlong’s grandfather) had been very fond of Castiglione's oil paintings, and this fact kept him in the court till the end of his life. Many of Castigliones’s works were based on true historical incidents, and have great historical value nowadays. In this sense, Castiglione was a very influential artist at court.
Besides its evident artistic value, this “Portrait of the Qianlong emperor at the age of twenty-five”, composed in 1736 at the time of Qianlong's inauguration as emperor, has a great historical value. In this simple full-face portrait, Castiglione reflects the young man's pride in his own competence, an absolute certainty of his ability to rule, a supreme pleasure of calm command. Compositionally, the painting is a massing of formal, imposing ornament in dizzying detail, the splendors of imperial magnificence condensed into a single person.
Qianlong had an outstanding personality. He was skilled at the hunt, he was a literate and prolific poet, and a highly educated collector and connoisseur of art. It was Qianlong, who encouraged Castiglione to learn and produce Chinese style paintings of ink on silk. His portrait was a successful example of Castiglione’ ability to combine Western techniques with Chinese characteristics.
In a much later portrait of the same Emperor,Castiglione presents a very different Qianlong.
Castiglione can depict the emperor ready for hunting or catch him in the moment of shooting a stag.
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The Qing Dynasty were descendants of Manchus, expert at horse hunting and great warriors.Castiglione is a specialist in painting horses, of all sizes, colour and position.
Another masterpiece of Castiglione “One Hundred Horses”
Castiglione’s masterpiece“The Eight Horses”
Following the taste and tradition of painting in China, Castiglione was able to forge a new style that combined elements with his Western training in art. His paintings were done with Chinese materials but often incorporated Western techniques of shading and atmospheric perspective. In this long handscroll painting (60 meters long), “One hundewd horses”, for example, a hundred horses are shown in a variety of activities. Using perspective to suggest depth and shading for the effect of light, Castiglione has used Chinese materials and Western techniques to impart a sense of realism to this native theme. In addition to the shadows, Castiglione has adapted the traditional texture stroke methods of Chinese painting to give the objects even more substance. The emphasis on washes of color, however, still reveals the focus on native techniques.
Castiglione was considered the most experienced painter at court. Together with two other Chinese painters, Jin Kun and Ding Guanpeng, Castiglione had to supervise the making of the famous painting “The hunts of Mulan, Mulan tu. There were eight painters working on the huge project. The responsibility for executing the human figures lay with Ding Guanpeng, while Cheng Zhidao, drew the landscape in ink, highlighted by bright colours.
This work is composed of four scrolls representing more than 130 metres of painting. The vast composition unfolds in a continuous frieze whose rhythmical flow is ensured by the landscape. All of the figures seem to walk without stopping, moving in an uninterrupted procession.
These were not simple recreational activities, but rather veritable military displays where the Emperor could test the valour of his officers.
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Conclusion
Was Castiglione just one of the many painters at the court of Chinese Emperors, or was he a missionary, sent to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to the Chinese people? In order to answer this question, we have to reaffirm the validity of Matteo Ricci’s method of Evangelization in China. According to Ricci’s rules, a missionary had first to learn Chinese culture, appreciate its beauty and depth, see the footsteps of God in it, then start dialoguing with Chinese scholars about subjects, in which they were interested, like: scientific reasearch, philosophical and cultural values in general etc. This exchange of all that is true, good and beautiful among the children of God of different nations and cultures, is already the beginning of that communion among humankind, which foreshadows the fullness of God’ kingdom. At the same time this free exchange of cultural gifts opened a door into China, which otherwise would have remained closed to all foreign intrusions. Castiglione opened this door into Chinese art. He learnt Chinese painting, he used it to express beauty and on his turn, he contributed his Western knowledge to Chinese artists. He was accepted and greatly admired both for his artistic creativity and for his holy life. He produced some paintings of Christian topics, like the Archangel Michael defeating the demon:
But his masterpieces are paintings of secular subjects. Lang Shih-ning belongs to Chinese history and he is a painter of Chinese culture and history. Castiglione’ life-witness among Chinese artists is still remembered today, after so many centuries. He is an artist-evangelizer in China.
Castiglione died in Peking in 1766, at the age of 78. He died as a high court-official. After death, he was honourde with the title of "shi-lang", which is the title of an assistant officer to a supervisor. He was buried in the same cemetery, where Matteo Ricci was buried. The land of the cemetery had been donated by Emperor Wanli. All Jesuit missionaries were buried there.
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