The relationship between Jesuit missionaries who functioned as artists at the Ming and Qing courts and their imperial patrons was often a tenuous one, filled with ambiguities. As Catholic evangelists who were forbidden to evangelize, the Jesuits worked relentless hours at court as artisans and painters, often under surprisingly grueling conditions. Yet they brought their European sensibilities and artistic training to the highest levels, and won the affection and respect of several emperors. The most famous Jesuit painter at the Qing court, Giuseppe Castiglione, established a warm relationship with the Emperor Qianlong, based on their mutual interest in all things artistic. This personal connection to the emperor, who liked to sit and watch the Jesuit paint, allowed Castiglione to fulfill his ministry as a Christian in China. During these intimate painting sessions, often while painting one of his many portraits of Qianlong, Castiglione became an advocate and a strong voice at court for his fellow missionaries in China, who were being persecuted and sometimes executed for proselytizing.

This illustrated lecture will explore the artistic development of several Jesuit artists in 18th century China. In particular, the focus will be on Castiglione and his work for Emperor Qianlong. To function effectively as an artist at the Qing court, Castiglione's challenge was to leave the oil painting tradition of the west and enter into the Chinese way. He took the Chinese name Lang Shining and began to develop the remarkable fusion of east/west styles that became his hallmark. As Father de Ventavon observed about Jesuit painters working at the Qing court: "A European painter is in real difficulties from the outset. He has to renounce his own taste and ideas on many points in order to adapt himself to those of this country….There is no way of avoiding this. Skillful as he may be, in some respects he has to become an apprentice again. Here they want no shadow in a picture…and almost all paintings are done in watercolor, very few in oil."

Castiglione's unique career as an artist in the Forbidden City -- beginning with his arrival at age twenty-seven and ending with his death there over fifty years later -- brought the Jesuits a large measure of respect and
influence during an otherwise disastrous period in their order's history.

Back to Lectures