Introduction
One Hundred Horses
- Qing dynasty, Lang Shining (Giuseppe Castiglione, 1688-1766)
- Handscroll, ink and colors on silk, 94.5 × 776.2 cm
This long handscroll painting depicts a scene of a herd of horses out in the pasture. The hundred steeds are shown in a variety of poses and activities as they leisurely make their way around the pastures and trees. Every detail is realistically done, and the composition is intricate and beautifully colored. Castiglione uses refined gradations of light and shadow to render an exceptionally lifelike scene. He was very good at combining traditional Chinese themes and techniques with Western pigments and their perspective methods, revealing a true meeting between East and West. The placement and depiction of the trees and landscape elements clearly reveal the deep atmospheric effect often found in Western art. Even the sizes of the horses vary with the distance and are shown in relative proportion. Furthermore, the painting method for the distant mountain rocks is distinct from that seen in traditional Chinese brushwork, with layered pigments also visible among the trees.