If you disrupt the order of portraits of emperors during the Qing Dynasty, can you tell who is with whom?
In fact, we can't tell the appearance of the emperors, not because we are blind, but because there is a problem with the painters of the court.
Take Qianlong's portrait, what is currently circulating in the world is not the same appearance, but two images with great contrast, so which one is true?
Successive emperors have a tradition of leaving portraits, so from the fifth generation onwards, court painters have occupied a very important position in the imperial palace.
Court painters during the Ming Dynasty served in the Wuying Temple, and their main job was to paint portraits of emperors, concubines, ministers, and princes, and these portraits would most likely be enshrined in the future.
Of course, most of the styles of Chinese painting are mainly based on depicting artistic conceptions, so there is a problem, the portrait of the emperor is not to restore the emperor in reality, but to paint the emperor's "majesty of the son of heaven".
Of course, it is not enough to paint the majesty of the Son of Heaven, and it is not easy to be a court painter.
Take the Qing Dynasty's queen concubine diagram, in addition to the emperor's portrait looks similar, the appearance of the queen concubine is also the same, which is not the lack of ability of the painters, but dare not paint realistically.
First of all, the queen's appearance must be willow eyebrows, plump earlobes, full cheeks, dignified and beautiful, showing the model of the mother of a country.
So the portrait of the queen is sure, can the portrait of the concubine be more beautiful and dignified than the queen? Nature can't.
Some concubines have melon faces, or their appearance is more charming, that must not be able to be painted realistically, so there is such a problem, all the concubines' looks are painted according to the queen, and they cannot be more beautiful and dignified than the queen.
Then they were also in the same situation when painting the emperor, if the emperor in front of them was a full round face of the heavenly court, and a sharp face suddenly appeared halfway through, if this caused the people of the world to talk about some bad things, this crime would be big.
In fact, the portraits of emperors we see in the past dynasties today are imaginary, as long as they are wise monarchs, then the portraits must not be angry and arrogant, and they must be majestic.
The faint monarchs, on the other hand, are mostly languishing, and some of the more benevolent monarchs are relatively approachable. Qianlong's appearance was produced in such a social environment.
Of course, the court painters can mix in the palace, naturally they are all human spirits, no matter what the emperor looks like, just paint in the direction of majesty and solemnity.
First of all, let's take a look at the official appearance of Qianlong.
In the official collection of Qianlong portraits, the consistent "full heavenly court, square circles of the earth", the qianlong in the portrait looks majestic, full of imperial domineering.
However, a shocking fact is that the real Qianlong does not look like this, but is completely opposite, short in stature, with an eagle hook nose, and a peaceful appearance but without losing its majesty.
So where did this look come from?
The imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty once appeared in China with a special painter.
Everyone knows that because Qianlong was dismissive of Western countries, he began a policy of closing the country to the outside world, but unexpectedly, there was a foreign painter in the court.
This painter is called Lang Shining. So where did this Lang Shining come from?
Lang Shining was an authentic Italian, and in 1715, during the Kangxi Dynasty, Lang Shining came to China to preach, and since then he has become a royal painter at the Court of the Qing Dynasty.
After three generations of Qing dynasty emperors, Lang Shining worked as a painter in the court for 50 years, and even participated in the design of the Western-style building of the Yuanmingyuan, and his paintings once influenced the standards and aesthetics of Qing court painting after kangxi.
Of course, a foreigner can gain a foothold in the court not only by his superb painting skills, but also by his extraordinary emotional intelligence and intelligence.
After Qianlong ascended the throne, Lang Shining entered the court every morning to paint, and Qianlong would often go to see him paint, sometimes on a whim, and also tease this foreigner.
Once, Lang Shining was painting the concubines, and when Qianlong arrived, he saw such a scene: the concubines surrounded Lang Shining in the middle, surrounded by beautiful women, looking quite enviable.
So Qianlong asked, "Which of them is the most beautiful?" ”
At this time, Lang Shining was not enjoying the mentality, in fact, his heart mentioned the throat eye at the moment, and when he saw that the emperor was embarrassed by himself, he said: "The concubines of the Son of Heaven are all as beautiful as heavenly immortals." ”
Qianlong was not very satisfied with this answer, so he asked again, "Of those concubines yesterday, which do you think is the most beautiful?" ”
Lang Shining replied, "Yesterday the minister did not look at them, he was counting the tiles on the wall." ”
I have to say that Lang Shining's emotional intelligence and IQ are online, after all, at this time, Lang Shining is nearly 50 years old, and he has also been mixed in China's court of open strife and secret struggle for half a lifetime.
Lang Shining's painting style is brought back from abroad, unlike the Chinese freehand school, his painting style is realistic, and Western oil painting pays attention to the light and shade of light and the treatment of lines, so an oil painting looks as if it is a physical object.
Under such a painting style, it is reasonable to say that it is enough to restore the appearance of the emperor to a certain extent.
However, after staying in China for a long time, Lang Shining also understood that although his realistic oil paintings set a precedent, many imperial relatives still prefer Chinese freehand paintings.
So Lang Shining immersed himself in learning the painting method of Chinese painting, and eventually his painting style also presented a new system, combining Chinese artistic conception with Western realism, making his painting style a school of its own.
For example, the famous "Ten Horse Dogs" perfectly combines the artistic conception with oil painting.
When the Qianlong Emperor was more than 40 years old, Lang Shining painted a portrait for him, called "Qianlong Half-Body Winter Dress Portrait", which changed the previous "patting the horse's ass" painting style and really restored Qianlong's appearance.
This year, Lang Shining was already 63 years old, just before Qianlong wore a winter coat to see Lang Shining paint, because the mood was very happy that day, so he asked Lang Shining to paint a portrait of himself.
This portrait can be said to be a very realistic restoration of Qianlong's appearance, only to see that Qianlong in the portrait is wearing a black winter coat, his eyes are looking ahead, and he is shining with energy.
The cheeks are full but not round, a firm eagle hook nose, with a figure-eight beard underneath, the appearance is less majestic than the official portrait, more peaceful, and it immediately pulls people back from the imagination of the emperor.
It is said that this picture is based on the image of Qianlong at that time 1:1, that is to say, if correct, Qianlong looks like this, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and looks no different from ordinary people.
Because many portraits of the Qianlong Emperor have been circulated in history, and the images are not consistent, the paintings of Lang Shining that have been circulated in the world have aroused people's doubts.
Is this portrait the true appearance of Qianlong?
In 1687, the Qing Dynasty once came to a French missionary, and later he wrote a "Biography of the Kangxi Emperor", in which he described Kangxi's appearance as follows:
"The Kangxi Emperor is 44 years old this year,...... He was mighty, dignified, tall, and well-behaved. His facial features are upright, his eyes are bright, and the tip of his nose is slightly rounded and slightly hooked. Although there are a little smallpox marks on his face, it does not affect his beautiful image in the slightest. ”
Note that he said that the Kangxi Emperor "had a slightly rounded nose and a slightly eagle hook-like appearance", which was almost the same as Lang Shining's portrait of Qianlong.
In addition to Zhang's "Portrait of a Half-Body Winter Dress", Lang Shining also painted a "Qianlong Emperor's Great Parade" for Qianlong, which is a portrait of the emperor's mighty posture recorded by Lang Shining when the Qianlong Emperor went to Nanyuan for a military parade with full arms.
The portrait is also a change from the dignified and majestic appearance of the official, and the appearance of Qianlong is restored in a realistic way, and the Qianlong in the painting looks short, with a pointed face and small eyes, and an eagle hook nose is faintly visible.
It is said that qianlong was very happy after seeing the portrait at that time, and immediately gave Lang Shining a lot of rewards, which shows that Qianlong's appearance is obviously the appearance of "eagle hook nose".
Today, this portrait is collected in China's museums, because it is one of the few realistic oil paintings in Qianlong, so it is very precious.
In today's later works, many film and television dramas are around the story of Qianlong, such as the classic appearance of "Emperor Ama" blowing his beard and staring at the eyes in "Huan Zhu Gege", and the handsome appearance in the popular "Yanxi Raiders".
In fact, to tell the truth, these looks are far from Qianlong's image.
Although Lang Shining was a foreign missionary, since he came to China, he has dedicated the second half of his life to the Qing Dynasty, and it is precisely because of Lang Shining's existence that we can glimpse the true appearance of ancient emperors.
Of course, later generations have mixed opinions about Qianlong as an emperor, but to be fair, whether Qianlong is faint or clear-headed, he is a part of Chinese history.
And because of the existence of Lang Shining, his paintings also give us an important reference for studying the history of the Qing Dynasty, the so-called "art without borders", such a master, should be respected by us.
Many people say that the emperors of ancient times existed in people's imaginations, so they always felt that feudal society was far away from us, but after seeing the true appearance of the Qianlong Emperor, it made us understand:
The emperor is also a common man, flesh and blood, no different from ordinary people.
So knowing qianlong's true appearance, does he conform to the emperor's personality in your heart?