Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The Great Fountain, Main Facade
Unidentified artist
after a drawing by Yi Lantai Chinese
Not on view
This view of the “European Palaces” in the Garden of Perfect Brightness (Yuanming Yuan), an imperial estate on the outskirts of Beijing, shows the main fountain, decorated with a stag faced by hounds, as well as two pyramidal fountains and meticulously shaped trees. The complex of buildings and gardens was conceived in 1747 by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–96), who ordered two missionaries, Giuseppe Castiglione and Michel Benoist, to design it in the European style. This engraving forms part of a set of mounted prints illustrating the “European Palaces” commissioned by the emperor and produced by Chinese engravers.
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