Portraits of the Qianlong Emperor and His Twelve Consorts
Medium
Handscroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
53.8 × 1154.5 cm · painting only: 53 × 688.3 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1969.31
Tags
male
About this artwork
This portrait shows the Qianlong emperor at 26, in the first year of his reign. His likeness is followed by portraits of the empress and eleven consorts. Their portraits document the appearances of the court women around the time when they received their respective imperial titles, which occurred at different stages of the emperor's life. The first three portraits were done by the Jesuit (Roman Catholic) missionary artist Giuseppe Castiglione, whereas the later ones were by Chinese court painter...