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Macau Periodical Index (澳門期刊論文索引)
- Author
- Andersson, Michelle Mope
- Title
- Painting spiritual friendship: Giuseppe Castiglione and three emperors of China
- Journal Name
- The Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute
- Pub. Info
- Jun. 2019, No. 4, pp. 72-87
- Link
- http://mrijournal.riccimac.org/articles/issue_04/MRI_Journal_Issue_Four.pdf
- Abstract
- This paper examines the dynamic of spiritual friendship between the Jesuit painter Giuseppe Castiglione and three emperors: Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, who reigned in China between 1662 and 1796. Paintings, historical reference and the poetic calligraphy which the emperor added with his own brush to Castiglione’s paintings, corroborate the notion of a deep friendship, one that is spiritual, in the way that spiritual friendship is defined and described by the 11th century Cistercian, Aelred of Rievaulx. The role of perspective, in both its technical and its spiritual connotations, is examined in terms of classical Chinese and western European traditions in relation to the deeper interior seeing of a spiritual friend. It is argued that Castiglione came to know the heart and mind of the emperor with such empathy that he is able to paint from that shared interiority, sharing affection, joy and even sorrow, beyond words, to suffuse spiritual experience within the work of painting, brush to silk, and for the gaze of the viewer. Paragraph Headings: 1. Painting spiritual friendship: Giuseppe Castiglione and three emperors of China 2. Spiritual friendship 3. Depth perspective and the role of the scroll 4. Lady Hoja: the fragrant concubine 5. Creating memory 6. Gratitude for spiritual gifts 7. Dual natures recursion and double portraits 8. Conclusion Figures: 1. Landscape. Giuseppe Castiglione Wikimedia Commons 2. One hundred horses. Giuseppe Castiglione National Palace Museum, Taipei. 3. Portraits of the Qianlong Emperor and his twelve consorts | 1736 - c. 1770s Giuseppe Castiglione and others | Cleveland Museum of Art. 4. Fragrant concubine from Sotheby’s Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. September, 2014 5. Giuseppe Castiglione | A victory banquet given by the emperor for the distinguished officers and soldiers of the rebellion of Huibu (1758-1759) | Wikimedia. 6. One or two. Double portrait of the Qianlong emperor.