Castiglione

Biography

Giuseppe Castiglione SJ (Chinese 郎世寧 郎世宁, Pinyin Láng Shìníng; * (baptized) on July 19, 1688 in Milan; † July 17, 1766 in Beijing, China), was an Italian Jesuit and painter in China. He was active for over 50 years under three emperors of the Qing Dynasty - Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong - as court painter and architect.

Castiglione is regarded as the founder of the Qing court style in Chinese painting, in which elements of European and Chinese painting were fused into an independent style.