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Lifting the Siege of the Black River Camp

After a drawing by Giuseppe Castiglione Italian

1771

Not on view

This work belongs to a set of sixteen prints recording the Qianlong Emperor’s (r. 1735–96) campaign in East Turkestan that were etched and engraved on copperplates in Paris. The two hundred impressions issued from each of the sixteen plates, as well as the plates themselves, were then shipped to China. The emperor composed poems on each scene. For some sets, the poems were woodblock-printed on separate sheets. For others, such as the one shown here, the poems were inscribed in brush and ink on the prints themselves, in imitation of the emperor’s handwriting.

Lifting the Siege of the Black River Camp, After a drawing by Giuseppe Castiglione (Italian, Milan 1688–1766 Beijing), Copperplate etching and engraving on European paper, China — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Heishui weijie

Title: Lifting the Siege of the Black River Camp

Artist: After a drawing by Giuseppe Castiglione (Italian, Milan 1688–1766 Beijing)

Date: 1771

Culture: China

Medium: Copperplate etching and engraving on European paper

Dimensions: Image: 20 1/4 x 35 1/16 in. (51.4 x 89 cm)

Classification: Prints

Credit Line: On loan from the British Museum- Donated by Miss Edith Price

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Asian Art at The Met

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.