Icons of rulership: Imperial portraiture during the Ming dynasty (1368--1644)

At the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368--1644), life portraits of emperors and empresses followed conventions established centuries earlier during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and sovereigns were depicted in naturalistic, three-quarter poses. Continuing in this tradition, the first Ming emperor, Hongwu (r. 1368--98), was portrayed in a pose that emphasized three-dimensionality. In the fifteenth century, however, Hongzhi (r. 1488--1505), the ninth Ming emperor, was depicted frontally and symmetrically, centered within a monumental composition and seated on a richly decorated chair framed by a screen of painted dragons. He stares directly outward, nearly expressionless, with his body dissolved beneath robes decorated with cosmological symbols of rulership.;This dissertation will examine the transformation of the imperial image from Hongwu to Hongzhi, arguing that the portrait of Hongzhi can be read as an icon of rulership. Through an analysis of the artistic concerns of imperial portraiture as well as the politico-religious context, I will trace the emergence of the iconic portrait of Hongzhi and attribute it to several factors: a new conception of the public function of imperial portraits, which ceased to be considered simply as objects of private veneration; the visual stimuli of Tibetan Buddhist icons, brought to the court in response to the early Ming emperors' interest in Tibetan Buddhism; and the invention of a dragon robe that symbolized legitimate rulership.;The combination of these three factors over nearly a century contributed to the creation of the new Ming imperial icon. After the establishment of the imperial icon, both imperial portraits from the late Ming and non-imperial ancestor portraits followed this new paradigm. In certain figure paintings, artists even eschewed naturalism to depict the emperor in an iconic pose whereas all the other figures were rendered more realistically. Imperial portraits from the Qing dynasty (1644--1911) similarly used this basic formula, incorporating new elements to suit the tastes of the Manchu emperors. The new Ming imperial portrait icon thus had long lasting effects in Chinese portraiture.