147
Two intaglio engravings, from the set of 20 drawn by Yi Lantai, depicting the Xiyanglou, the European Palaces, of the Yuanming Yuan, each is inscribed in Chinese with its number and title: number 13, Haiyantang nanmian (South facade of the Palace of Calm Seas), and number 15, Dashuifa zhengmian (Main facade of the Great Water Fountains).
Circa 1783-6
20 x 34 1/4”, 51 x 87 cm
In 1709 the Kangxi Emperor began construction of the Yuanming Yuan (the Garden of Perfect Brightness) for his fourth son, who was to become the Yongzheng Emperor, but it was during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor that the most spectacular elements were added and in 1747 he asked the Jesuit fathers Giuseppe Castiglione and Michel Benoist to design European fountains, and further halls and palaces were subsequently built. In 1783 the Qianlong Emperor ordered the creation of a set of engravings of the Xiyanglou. These were the first intaglio prints made entirely by Chinese artists, presumably under the instruction of the Jesuit missionaries.
Several sets of the engravings are in existence, including those held by the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris, the New York Public Library and the Getty Center for the History of Art in Santa Monica.
Number fifteen: Main facade of the Great Water Fountains