Summer palace

(Giuseppe Castiglione)

Summer Palace (enamels)

The 16th - 17th centuries turned out to be an era of great changes for China and not only because of the Manchu conquest. With the beginning of the colonial era, China began to increasingly be exposed to the cultural influence of Europeans. The transformation of Chinese painting was a reflection of this fact. One of the most interesting Chinese artists of the Qing era is Lang Shining. La Shining is the Chinese name of the Italian artist, Jesuit monk Giuseppe Castiglione, who lived in China at the imperial court for over 50 years.
Giuseppe Castiglione was born on July 19, 1688 in Milan in the San Marcellino area. He enjoyed painting, art training took place in the workshop of Carlo Cornaro in the art studio Botteghe Degli Stampator. At the age of 19, he took monastic vows and joined the Catholic Jesuit order, which vigorously expanded its own missionary work in the Middle Kingdom. For a couple of years, Giuseppe worked in Genoa and Lisbon. And in 1715, along with a missionary mission, he went to Macau. His journey ended in Beijing at the Qing court. The emperor was so impressed by his artistic abilities that he invited the Italian monk to the palace as a court painter, where he served until his death, finding the reign of three emperors: Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.