Work ID:
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M01E00279
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Title:
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Ten Horses-Snowy Spot Hawk
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Creation Date:
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Qing Dynasty
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Start Year Date:
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A.D.1644
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End Year Date:
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A.D.1911
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Dynasty:
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63 Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1644~1911)
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Creator:
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Lang Shih-ning (Giuseppe Castiglione)
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Creation Place:
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China
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Measurements:
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238.2 x 270.6 cm
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Material:
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Ink and color on silk
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Form:
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Li-zhou (hanging scroll)
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Type:
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Painting
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Subject:
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Animals
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Repository:
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The National Palace Museum, Taipei
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Description:
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Lang Shining was an excellent painter of horses, and an exact number of his works depicting fine steeds has yet to be counted. Examples in the collection of the National Palace Museum alone include One Hundred Horses, Ten Horses, Eight Horses, Brocade Cloud Displaying Talent, Ayuxi Wielding a Spear against Bandits, Machang Defeating Bandits, Aiwuhan's Four Horses, and others. Given the frequency with which he depicted horses, we may wonder whether Lang Shining sincerely loved horses or whether it was the Qianlong Emperor who was so fond of them. The more likely answer is that Qianlong was the one who loved horses. He commanded Lang Shining to examine the famous steeds in the palace and paint them one by one. Qianlong's motivation may have been two-fold: first, to preserve the images of these famous horses, and second, to have proof of his unparalleled military capabilities. As its title suggests, Ten Horses depicts ten fine steeds. According to records in Shiqu baoji (the imperial painting catalogue commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor) and Guochao yuanhualu (Record of paintings from the imperial academy), Lang Shining respectfully presented the emperor with Ten Horses in the spring of the eighth year of Qianlong's reign (1743). The painting depicts horses given to Qianlong as tribute from rulers of border regions outside Mongolia.
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ImageV ID:
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M01E00279AS001
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Rights:
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Lee & Lee Communications
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