Page 56 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

full military regalia. Although the emperor appears to be inspecting troops, the depicted

scene never truly occurred and instead represents an idealized an even idolized version of

a triumphant Qianlong. The portrait was meant to reflect Qianlong’s power after

conquering territories in the west of China. Castiglione’s inclusion of chiaroscuro and

linear perspective within the portrait emphasize elements of the West, while the media

and attire of Qianlong pay homage to styles found in the east. This portrait of Qianlong

in a Western style formed the basis for further portraiture during Cixi’s era, while the

elements developed within the work created an arsenal from which later artists would

draw. These interactions with Western styles shaped the aesthetics cultivated by Cixi

throughout her lifetime and provided her with the ability to document historic court

36
occasions.
Cixi would have been familiar with painting from her childhood exposure to the

art form. This knowledge would have grown as she continued to study painting upon

entering the Forbidden City and would have been visible as she oversaw the paintings

produced under the reigns of Tongzhi and Guangxu. One of Cixi’s paintings that is

currently at the Palace Museum in Beijing, Peonies, dates to the reign of Guangxu in

37
1902 (Figure 3). The hanging scroll details two blooming peonies: one in blue, and the

other a light pink. The peony (牡丹) is considered an auspicious image symbolizing

wealth and prosperity. Cixi frequently included auspicious symbols within her artwork,

and such symbols were prominently featured in art that she commissioned. Auspicious

symbols are often found textually within imperial art. However, Cixi predominately

36 Claudia Brown, Great Qing: Painting in China, 1644-1911, 147-148.
37 Yuan Hong-qi, Empress Dowager Cixi: Her Art of Living, ed. Bao-guang Wang (Hong Kong:
Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1996), 93.

17