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Lang
Shih-ning (Giuseppe Castiglion, 1688-1766 A.D.) was born at Milan, Italy.
At nineteen, he entered the Jesuitorder and studied painting and
architecture. He came to China in 1715 as a missionary, and received a
post in theAcademy of Art at the Manchu court, where he was known by his
Chinese name, Lang Shih-ning. As a painter, he wasnoted for his picture of
human figures, flowers, birds, and especially, horses. When he first
started, it was his intention tointroduce into China the techniques of
Western painting, but he received no encouragement. On the contrary, he
wasadvised to study Chinese art. This he did, and gradually created a
style of painting close to the Chinese style. His abilityto draw from life
excelled his Chinese colleagues, yet as Chinese artists lay stress on
artistic ideals and poetic flavourrather than on realism, Lang's
masterpieces did little to alter the course of the development of Chinese
art.
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