The Cultural Heritage of Architectural Linear Perspective: The Mural Paintings in Nantang Church

Abstract

This paper presents a contextual use of the innovative drawing techniques that involved architecture and painting in the Qing court during the first half of the eighteenth century. At this point architectural linear perspective in painting (quadratura) and stage design had become common fields of experimentation for the Chinese and Jesuit artists missionaries. In this conceptual context, Western quadratura was developed in China by Giovanni Gherardini. (1655–1729), and especially by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766), who is remembered as an extraordinarily versatile architect–painter. The focus of this paper is on the “illusory mural paintings of architectural perspective in Nantang Church” (Beijing), which has now disappeared, and which spread the influence of the Western Renaissance. The imported Western linear perspective and the fundamentals of architectural drawing facilitated the systematization and dissemination of the quadratura as an unknown technique in China. Based on the text described by the contemporary scholar Yao Yuan Zhi, an original interpretation of the architectural perspective mural paintings in Nantang Church is proposed. These paintings provide an important case study of Sino-European collaboration in the eighteenth century from different points of view: the representation of the light in drawings and the fact that the concept of shadow in some respects was unknown to the Chinese artist.

Architectural Heritage Analysis of the Yuanying Guan Pavilion: Construction and Signification

“…In his theory, Saussure adopted a dyadic model with two components for the sign: signifier and signified, [4] (pp. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. As for Peirce, he adopted the triadic model [4] (pp.…”

“…. A set of signs coded by the orthogonality of the axes allowed the bilateral symmetry to emerge from these scenes, in a strategy that was widely used by the Jesuits [27] (pp. 1773-1785).…”

Perspective Analysis of Eustache Le Sueur and His Paintings

“…As exemplified in mural paintings, the cultural heritage of architectural linear perspective further emphasises the enduring legacy of perspective in artistic expression. The development of Western quadrature in China highlights the transcultural diffusion of artistic techniques, underscoring the global significance of perspective in shaping visual narratives and spatial representations (Castilla, 2021). This interconnectedness is echoed in the reflection of imagination and perception in medieval painting, where space and scale are imbued with symbolic and perceptual significance, contributing to the rich tapestry of artistic expression and visual communication (Ruta et al, 2022).…”