Covered Box
18th century, Jingdezhen ware, Jiangxi province, Porcelain with turquoise glaze and gilt, China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign mark and period (1736–95), 73.5
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Produced by Acoustiguide © Seattle Art Museum
Imperial Illusions
The Qianlong Emperor was fascinated by visual illusion in all mediums. He had several palace buildings lavishly decorated with life-size paintings designed to combine seamlessly with actual architecture. This painting of a palace lady with her children is enhanced by the actual wood doorway that surrounds it. Illusionistic paintings are meant to trick the eye, suggesting the existence of another room or courtyard beyond the confines of the walls on which they are painted. What makes them so convincing is their use of geometric perspective, a technique introduced to China by Italian Jesuit painters and taught to Chinese palace artists.
Illusionistic painting from the Imperial Palace © Palace Museum Beijing
This woodblock printed page illustrates in detail how to use Western perspective in Chinese paintings. It is from a book about vision by the high-ranking court official and amateur mathematician Nian Xiyao. Published in 1735, the book was among the first of its kind in China and a key manual for court painters working on illusionistic paintings in the imperial palaces.
Page from the Study of Vision (shixue) © The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford