Introduction
Immortal blossoms in an everlasting spring were sixteen bird and flower paintings by Giuseppe Castiglione. Castiglione was an Italian artist and a Jesuit missionary based in China during the Qing dynasty, where he was known as Lang Shining. The particular piece of art is associated with eternity and the aspect of living, and Lang uses high-quality color details to symbolize flourishing life on the dull background landscape of the painting. Lang mainly was known for his keen detail on lighting in his works, where dark and white pigments were used to express bright lighting of images and background elements in his paintings. All the minor details that depict the blossom in a painting by Lang Shining serve as symbols of life and immortality.
Subject, Form, and Content
The given piece entails a blossoming flower with rich green and pink petals. The landscape incorporates a rocky background where the painter used dark and white pigment shades to depict illumination in the background. Lang used Chinese coloring pigments on silk, as was the custom of painters in China during that period. However, Lang always combined western elements in paintings such as the shading and details to the background while still using Chinese elements making his work unique and breathtaking as highlighted in this essay. The work of art conveys a joyful atmosphere and provides a sense of movement due to the forms Lang Shining chooses for depicting the flowers.
In this painting, Lang creates a symbolic image of life and immortality. The flower growing and blossoming in a rather grey background is symbolization hope in glim conditions. With most of his works signifying Christianity and the afterlife, Lang used this particular piece to signify the possibility of living and thriving in hopeless situations. Given the history of Lang Shining, the piece of art is also a depiction of eternal living in the afterlife.
Castiglione’s Unique Story
Castiglione was an Italian Jesuit missionary sent to China to spread the gospel and faith of the Jesus club. Given that Castiglione was a Christian missionary, the foundation of his faith included elements of life after death, with a promise of eternal living for believers as a reward for their faith and observation of Christian codes. This particular aspect of his life dictated his art’s theme and exquisite symbolism. For this painting, Lang created the theme of eternity through a flower blossoming in glim conditions. Additionally, most of the works done by Christian artists during that time and even today portrayed heaven as a beautiful place with many attractive flowers. With this in mind, Lang created an imagery symbolism of a beautiful place like heaven using the flower painting.
In creating this painting, Lang was in line with his duty as a missionary. China at that time was not fully supportive of Christianity, and the task of integrating Christianity into the Chinese culture was a plight. As such, Lang found himself in a position where he could use his artistic talents to spread his faith and make an impact. The Immortal Blossoms on an Everlasting Spring piece was painted to depict a beautiful life after death for believers as a means of spreading the Christian gospel.
Comparison
For comparison reasons, the symbolism and theme of The Immortal Blossoms on an Everlasting Spring will be used where the distinctive theme is Christianity. As such, the comparative art chosen for analysis is Da Vinci’s Madonna Litta. This painting by the famous Da Vinci depicts the Virgin Mary breastfeeding Jesus. In the painting, Mary is wearing a blue cloak to symbolize the church and a red dress, signifying their passion for Christ. The act of breastfeeding depicted in this painting is a symbol of motherly love. The painting, just like Immortal blossoms in an everlasting spring, is finished with fine-tuned details to the background and color pigments.
Like many other western painters and artists, Da Vinci was keen on background details and the lighting aspects of a painting. Another similarity between the two pieces of art is in their subject and symbolism. Both pieces are a depiction of Christianity. However, Da Vinci’s art connotes Jesus Christ and the aspect of the Church of Christ, while Lang’s work entails the aspect of heaven and thriving amidst tribulations. Additionally, both paintings were outlined in a period in history when the Christian religion was on its path to spreading the gospel and winning more believers into the faith.
In terms of the color pigments, the distinctive colors in Madonna Litta are red and blue, while those in Immortal blossoms in an everlasting spring are green and pink. Further, Madonna Litta is set indoors with an outdoor background visible through the window, while Immortal blossoms in an everlasting spring are set outdoors fully. While both painters were from Italy and were active supporters of the Christian Faith, the church was at the helm of society during Da Vinci’s period, and the Madonna Litta was a depiction of this phenomenon where it had an element of the Catholic Church such as the blue cloak used to symbolize loyalty in the church.
Conclusion
The flower and the everlasting spring are elements associated with heaven in the Christian faith, and this tells a lot about the intention of the painting and the painter. In this piece of art, Lang was trying to spread the gospel of Christianity and get people in China to believe and accept the Christian religion. This was during a trying period when the Chinese did not accept Christianity as aforementioned. Nevertheless, the unique works Lang Shining created helped him to get easily accepted and hosted by the emperor and become a part of the team designing numerous palaces in different regions of China.