Photography Copper Etching on Paper – Original Huanghuazhen Labyrinth in the Old Summer Palace
Photography Copper Etching on Paper – Original Huanghuazhen Labyrinth in the Old Summer Palace
CC BY-SA 4.0
A black-and-white photograph showing a printed image of the original Huanghuazhen 黃花陣 labyrinth in the section of the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan 圓明園) in Beijing called the “European Pavilions” (Xiyanglou 西洋楼).
It is the fifth in a series of twenty engravings commissioned in 1783 by Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1735–1796) and printed three years later. The prints, gathered in the series Twenty Views of European Pavilions in the Old Summer Palace, were designed and probably produced by the court artist Yi Lantai 伊兰泰 (1749–1786), who was trained by the Jesuit painter and court artist Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766). The inscription in the upper left-hand corner indicates that it is the fifth image in the album, which shows the front of the Rose Garden.
These depictions are an important pictorial record of the European Pavilions in the Old Summer Palace and reflect Emperor Qianlong’s interest in European art. The pavilion, ... more
A black-and-white photograph showing a printed image of the original Huanghuazhen 黃花陣 labyrinth in the section of the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan 圓明園) in Beijing called the “European Pavilions” (Xiyanglou 西洋楼).
It is the fifth in a series of twenty engravings commissioned in 1783 by Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1735–1796) and printed three years later. The prints, gathered in the series Twenty Views of European Pavilions in the Old Summer Palace, were designed and probably produced by the court artist Yi Lantai 伊兰泰 (1749–1786), who was trained by the Jesuit painter and court artist Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766). The inscription in the upper left-hand corner indicates that it is the fifth image in the album, which shows the front of the Rose Garden.
These depictions are an important pictorial record of the European Pavilions in the Old Summer Palace and reflect Emperor Qianlong’s interest in European art. The pavilion, along with the entire complex, was destroyed by English and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War.
The photograph is the 331st of 449 photographs of Beijing and its surroundings in the album of Ivan Skušek Jr., purchased during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). In the handwritten inventory of the album, the photograph is referred to asYüen-Ming-Yüen: Irrgarten (nach Original-Bild). (DZ, MV)
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