Nar Singh
Mughal Emperor Akbar with Jesuit missionaries Rodolfo Acquaviva and Francisco Henriques
India (c. 1605)
from the Akbarnama
Guiseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining)
Inauguration Portrait of Emperor Qianlong and 11 Imperial Consorts
China/Italy (1736)
Handscroll, ink and color on silk; 53.8 cm. x 1154.5 cm.
Almost from its inception in 1534, the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits, sent missionaries to the Far East. Unlike other European religious orders, the Jesuits sought to gain influence and, consequently, converts by introducing specialized Western knowledge to the elites in the regions they visited. By the late seventeenth century, Jesuits trained in technical fields as diverse as hydraulics, astronomy, and cartography were resident in Beijing and serving the emperor.
At the same time, the society sent other members like Giuseppe Castiglione who affected the training and style of artists and artisans at court. Castiglione, a Jesuit born in Milan and trained in European painting techniques, proved influential and painted for three different Chinese emperors. Epitomizing Jesuit attitudes, Castiglione not only taught Western methods of perspective and chiaroscuro to his Chinese pupils but also studied his students' traditional watercolor techniques, eventually achieving his own synthetic style combining the two.
This impressive scroll, depicting the Qianlong emperor (ruled 1736-96) as well as his empress and concubines, clearly illustrates Castiglione's favor at court. According to the inscription that accompanies the portraits, the painting was made on the day Qianlong ascended the throne. For this imperial project, the painter chose an extremely formal manner, presenting full frontal busts that are almost life size. Borrowed from the indigenous traditions of Chinese imperial and ancestor portraiture, the faces and richly embroidered robes are depicted rather flatly so that their features are unobscured by dramatic shadow.[via ArtStor]