Castiglione went to Beijing where Emperor Kangxi invited him to the palace. The emperor was impressed by his painting talent and ordered him to study traditional Chinese painting. For the next fifty years, Castiglione was an imperial artist, witnessing the comings and goings of three emperors - Kangxi, Yongzheng (1678-1735) and Qianlong (1711-1799).

Castiglione adjusted his oil painting style to suit the emperors' tastes and traditional Chinese aesthetics by using Chinese rice paper, thin silk, ink and brush pens.

But Castiglione wasn't free to draw whatever he wished. Instead the emperor gave him assignments and required him to submit drafts of his next work for approval before beginning to paint. Only when the emperor approved of his draftcould the artist's begin to paint. Castiglione's subject matter was mainly the emperors' political achievements. His unique combination of western and eastern painting styles was the only way he could survive the whims of the imperial court.

Page:

1

2

3

4

All rights reserved. Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and a notifying email is sent to us.