Studies In The Circumstances Of Giuseppe Castiglione In China And Thin Horse In His Paintings

Research on Giuseppe Castiglione became a hot topic in art history since the rise of the reform movement of traditional Chinese painting in the early 20th century although most discussions are restricted to his amalgamation of Chinese and western painting techniques, and other aspects of his life, work, interpersonal relationships, remuneration, etc, have been touched upon, more in-depth and systematic research is needed. This paper explores every aspect of Giuseppe Castiglione's life in China (1715-1766), beginning with his double identity as a "Jesuit" and "Huahuaren" ("painter"), the goal is to reevaluate Giuseppe Castiglione's status in the palace, and to attempt to restore his image as closely to historical reality as possible.The majority of facts indicate that Giuseppe Castiglione's life in China was full of frustrations and setbacks. As a Jesuit during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns, he faced unprecedented restrictions on Catholic missionary activities; as a Huahuaren, his work could never be fully accepted. Considered the most important goal that Giuseppe Castiglione came to China, it was tolerable, or must accept for the latter one, but it was a fatal blow for the former. Because his spiritual mission became the main source of spiritual strength supporting Castiglione to endure this harsh environment, but hanging by a thread, Giuseppe Castiglione not only lived with a shadow overhead, but also encountered the great crisis of losing his life's value. Basically, cultural conflict was the reason for all of the frustrations and setbacks Giuseppe Castiglione encountered. Stigmatized as the "Other", he was unable to obtain recognition for his core values from the people around him, which also made it difficult to adapt to the environment.Based on the above arguments, this paper has raised a problem that previous researchers have neglected:the "thin horse" in paintings of Giuseppe Castiglione. In view of the fact that there have been many "thin horse" images in European, South Asian arts, as well as in Chinese literature, painting, poetry, ancient religious books and records, the metaphor changes according to different cultural backgrounds. We cannot simply limit our understanding to visual aesthetics in understanding Giuseppe Castiglione's "thin horse", but should explore contextual information. This is a difficult task because there are no extant documents on Castiglione's "thin horse", however, this paper presents a innovative hypothesis based on three kinds of image experiences of the "thin horse" that Giuseppe Castiglione may have, and the composition analysis of the location of the "thin horse" in his paintings:The "thin horse" maybe a self-portrait of Giuseppe Castiglione, and it suffers from an isolation, helplessness or drifting away from the population, which maybe a reflection of Giuseppe Castiglione's distressed circumstances in China.