The Battle of Tonguzluq
This print depicts the 1758 Battle of Tonguzluq with Qing soldiers firing cannons and using guns and arrows to attack the enemy within a fortified encampement filled with tents and yurts; outside the encampement, Qing soldiers set fire to enemy turrets and take prisoners.
Part of a set of sixteen, "The Battle of Tonguzluq" 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 Battle of Tonguzluq" 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 Battle of Tonguzluq
- Series/Portfolio: The Conquests of the Emperor of China
(Les Conquêtes de l'Empereur de la Chine) - Artist: Augustin de Saint-Aubin (French, Paris 1736–1807 Paris)
- Artist: after Giuseppe Castiglione (Italian, Milan 1688–1766 Beijing)
- Artist: (direxit) Charles Nicolas Cochin II (French, Paris 1715–1790 Paris)
- Date: 1773
- Medium: Etching and engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet: 39 5/8 × 25 13/16 in. (100.7 × 65.5 cm)
Plate: 37 × 22 3/4 in. (94 × 57.8 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1945
- Object Number: 45.100.9
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Multiple artists/makers
1780
Multiple artists/makers
1770
Augustin de Saint-Aubin
Charles Nicolas Cochin II
1770
Augustin de Saint-Aubin
Charles Nicolas Cochin II
1770
Multiple artists/makers
1780
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