ARTIST(s): Lang ShiNing 郎世寧, AKA Giuseppe Castiglione, (1688-1766) ink and color on silk, Framed Height: 56.75 inch x Width: 25.25 inch x Length; Painting Length: 1.125 inch in Centimeter: 144.1 cm x 64.1 cm x 2.9 cm Signed/Seal(s): 1 artist seal 2 different 乾隆/乾清宫/御书房/石渠宝笈/养心殿 Qianlong Reign Period, Qing Dynasty. PROVENANCE: Estate Collections of GENERAL YU BINDONG 俞濱東 (1903-1990) (AKA: 天宾) R.O.C. Presidential Palace Third Class of Major Generals, Director of Assistant Commissioner, Official bodyguard, Security guard brigade commander of the building controls, the affairs of state, presidential palace Internal business, printing and engraving branch. For more information about General Yu Bingdong 俞濱東, please follow this link: www.eden-galleries.com/yubindong/ Video Documentation on Youtube: https://youtu.be/W_mn9iHjgMY Video Documentation on Youku (China): https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDUxMzY4NzcwOA==.html The collections of General Yu Bingdong 俞濱東 presented and offered up to auctions: ON DAY-1: From Lot-125 through Lot-152, and continued from Lot-269 through Lot-296. ON DAY-2: from Lot-448 through Lot-487, and continued from Lot-620 through Lot-760. LOT NOTES: Giuseppe Castiglione, also known as Lang Shining 郎世寧, was born on July 19, 1688, in the central San Marcellino district of Milan, Italy, the site of a renowned Botteghe degli Stampator painting studio. As a youth, Castiglione learned to paint from Carlo Cornara at the studio, and he also came under the influence of the famous painter Andrea Pozzo, a member of the Society of Jesus at Trento. In 1707, at the age of 19, Castiglione formally entered the Society and traveled to the prosperous city of Genoa for further training. By this time, he had already achieved some repute as a painter and was invited to do wall paintings at Jesuit churches. At the age of 27, he received instructions to go to China, and, on the journey, did wall paintings in Jesuit churches in Coimbra (Portugal) and Macao. Castiglione's style was based on the emphasis on color, perspective, and light found in Italian Renaissance art. In China, where Castiglione went by the Chinese name Lang Shining, he came to the attention of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1795) and served as an artist for the court. Castiglione eventually became a respected painter and earned the appreciation of the Qianlong emperor, which was a considerable honor for a foreign artist at the time. Following the taste and tradition of painting in China, Castiglione was able to forge a new style that combined elements with his Western training in art. His paintings were done with Chinese materials but often incorporate Western techniques of shading and atmospheric perspective, imparting a sense of realism to the native themes.