Breaking Through the Siege at Hesui: from Battle Scenes of the Quelling of Rebellions in the Western Regions, with imperial Poems (c. 1765–74; poem dated 1759): Art, History and Details

Breaking Through the Siege at Hesui: from Battle Scenes of the Quelling of Rebellions in the Western Regions, with imperial Poems (c. 1765–74; poem dated 1759) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Giuseppe Castiglione (Italian, 1688–1766).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This set of etchings was commissioned by Emperor Qianlong to record in pictorial terms the courage of his generals and soldiers in quelling the rebellions in the Western Regions. Qianlong added his own poem to each of the etchings, indicating his appreciation and pride in this demonstration of military might. "Western Regions" refers to the present-day Xingjiang province, often described in Western writing as "Central Asia."

Object facts

• Title: Breaking Through the Siege at Hesui: from Battle Scenes of the Quelling of Rebellions in the Western Regions, with imperial Poems
• Date: c. 1765–74; poem dated 1759
• Creator attribution: Giuseppe Castiglione (Italian, 1688–1766)
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching, mounted in album form, 16 leaves plus two additional leaves of inscriptions
• Dimensions: Overall: 51 x 87 cm (20 1/16 x 34 1/4 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Album leaf
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1998.103.7

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.