Giuseppe Castiglione and other Qianlong emperors’ axes with arrows

[Giuseppe Castiglione and other emperors of Qianlong]

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There is no author’s signature or stamp. The seal of Emperor Qianlong’s “Treasure of Eight Symbols and Eight Concepts”, “Treasure of Five Blessings and Five Dynasties Hall”, and “Treasure of the Supreme Emperor” are collected
This picture is one of a series of works on hunting tours painted by court painters under the orders of Emperor Qianlong. The picture depicts Emperor Qianlong, who was over 30 years old, riding a horse and admiring his arrows alone. The types and names of its imperial arrows are numerous and diverse. Arrows have iron, iron plated, ivory, horns, bone, wood, and other textures. Keduo is made from poplar and birch. Feathers are selected from rare or brightly colored bird feathers. “Feather arrows that have hit their prey during hunting are engraved with merit and stored for use as a warning to future generations not to forget their military equipment.”
From the perspective of brushwork, the portrait of Emperor Qianlong and the white horse in this picture were painted by Giuseppe Castiglione, a Western painter who is good at realism. On the basis of using Chinese painting tools to halo and dye the horses, Giuseppe Castiglione also skillfully absorbed the techniques of light and shadow in western paintings, and used the changes of light and shade to show the volume, muscle and fur texture of the horses with different shades. The mountains, rocks, and trees in the picture should have been created by Chinese painters. The open waters, beautiful and branching trees, coupled with the elegant arrow appreciation movements of Emperor Qianlong, are indeed an exquisite work by a combination of Chinese and Western painters