The Surrender of the Khan of Badakhsan
This print, which shows the khan of Badakhsan surrendering to Qing forces in 1759, illustrates a typical Manchu military encampment enclosed within a circular perimeter. At the center, the khan is granted an audience, while Qing cavalrymen present a display of martial skills and horsemanship.
Part of a set of sixteen, "The Surrender of the Khan of Badakhsan" was commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor in 1765 to commemorate Manchu victories (1755-59) over the Eleuths, the Dzungars, and other Central Asian peoples in the present-day region of Xinjiang. Made under the direction of Charles-Nicolas Cochin (1715-1790), the prints, which follow reduced-scale copies of paintings by Jesuit artists working in Beijing, were etched and engraved in France from 1767 to 1774 by the finest printmakers at the court of Louis XV. The Chinese merchants of Canton (present-day Guangzhou) paid for the copper plates and two hundred sets of prints to be delivered to China, with only a few sets retained in Paris.
The prints exemplify the fusion of Eastern and Western representational styles fostered within the Qing imperial painting academy. The European technique of chiaroscuro-the modeling of forms through the use of light and shading-has been visibly tempered, as has the use of one-point perspective. Instead, the scenes present panoramic views and strongly up-tilt ground planes. At the same time, howevery, they reflect European preferences for anatomical accuracy, a single light source, and the mathematically correct reduction of scale to create the illusion of recession.
Part of a set of sixteen, "The Surrender of the Khan of Badakhsan" was commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor in 1765 to commemorate Manchu victories (1755-59) over the Eleuths, the Dzungars, and other Central Asian peoples in the present-day region of Xinjiang. Made under the direction of Charles-Nicolas Cochin (1715-1790), the prints, which follow reduced-scale copies of paintings by Jesuit artists working in Beijing, were etched and engraved in France from 1767 to 1774 by the finest printmakers at the court of Louis XV. The Chinese merchants of Canton (present-day Guangzhou) paid for the copper plates and two hundred sets of prints to be delivered to China, with only a few sets retained in Paris.
The prints exemplify the fusion of Eastern and Western representational styles fostered within the Qing imperial painting academy. The European technique of chiaroscuro-the modeling of forms through the use of light and shading-has been visibly tempered, as has the use of one-point perspective. Instead, the scenes present panoramic views and strongly up-tilt ground planes. At the same time, howevery, they reflect European preferences for anatomical accuracy, a single light source, and the mathematically correct reduction of scale to create the illusion of recession.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Surrender of the Khan of Badakhsan
- Series/Portfolio: The Conquests of the Emperor of China
(Les Conquêtes de l'Empereur de la Chine) - Artist: Pierre Philippe Choffard (French, Paris 1730–1809 Paris)
- Artist: after Jean Damascene (French, Rome 1727–1781 Beijing)
- Artist: (direxit) Charles Nicolas Cochin II (French, Paris 1715–1790 Paris)
- Date: 1772
- Medium: Etching and engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet: 25 3/4 × 39 9/16 in. (65.4 × 100.5 cm)
Plate: 22 1/2 × 36 7/8 in. (57.2 × 93.6 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1945
- Object Number: 45.100.13
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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