decorous young ruler, shortly after succeeding to the throne in 1736; we can see him in the company of his beloved horses, either receiving them as tributary gifts from the nomadic peoples of the steppe or out riding in the full panoply of embroidered robes and gleaming armor. In somewhat less-public images, he appears in a lakeside pavilion escorted by his entourage of beautiful palace women, the erotic possi- bilities of the moment underlined by the horned stag and the shy doe, at which the emperor is thoughtfully gazing; or shown from different vantage points in a trompe l’oeil montage of screens and portraits in his imperial study. And we can see him in the grandest contexts of empire, reviewing the serried masses of his troops while out on maneuvers, traveling with a mighty retinue to inspect the cities in the center of China, or enshrined as a self-reflective Buddhist saint in the midst of a holy mountain.
fredag 23. august 2024
From China’s Past: Portrait of an Emperor Qianlong: Ruler, Connoisseur, and Scholar
Perhaps no emperor in all of China’s history was more con- scious of his own image than Qianlong. Suitably enough, he loved to have his portrait painted, and scores of those renderings have survived: we can see him as a prince, tak- ing over control of the country from his shrewd and hard- nosed father Yongzheng; we can see him as an alert yet
decorous young ruler, shortly after succeeding to the throne in 1736; we can see him in the company of his beloved horses, either receiving them as tributary gifts from the nomadic peoples of the steppe or out riding in the full panoply of embroidered robes and gleaming armor. In somewhat less-public images, he appears in a lakeside pavilion escorted by his entourage of beautiful palace women, the erotic possi- bilities of the moment underlined by the horned stag and the shy doe, at which the emperor is thoughtfully gazing; or shown from different vantage points in a trompe l’oeil montage of screens and portraits in his imperial study. And we can see him in the grandest contexts of empire, reviewing the serried masses of his troops while out on maneuvers, traveling with a mighty retinue to inspect the cities in the center of China, or enshrined as a self-reflective Buddhist saint in the midst of a holy mountain.
decorous young ruler, shortly after succeeding to the throne in 1736; we can see him in the company of his beloved horses, either receiving them as tributary gifts from the nomadic peoples of the steppe or out riding in the full panoply of embroidered robes and gleaming armor. In somewhat less-public images, he appears in a lakeside pavilion escorted by his entourage of beautiful palace women, the erotic possi- bilities of the moment underlined by the horned stag and the shy doe, at which the emperor is thoughtfully gazing; or shown from different vantage points in a trompe l’oeil montage of screens and portraits in his imperial study. And we can see him in the grandest contexts of empire, reviewing the serried masses of his troops while out on maneuvers, traveling with a mighty retinue to inspect the cities in the center of China, or enshrined as a self-reflective Buddhist saint in the midst of a holy mountain.
