Works of art are often a source of controversy and artists are a target for violent criticism, as a recent book and a current London exhibition remind us. In 1744, Guiseppe Castiglione was commissioned by the Qian Long Emperor to design an extension of the Summer Palace in Beijing, the most impressive aspect of which was a circle of animals, based on the traditional animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

Ai Weiwei‘s Circle of Animals at Somerset House is a re-interpretation of the originals, which were scattered during a looting by European forces in 1860. Ai Weiwei’s work and controversial status form a direct link with the central character in David Su Li-Qun and Diana Gore’s elegantly written book, Vermilion Ink.

Found as a street urchin and raised by Jesuits, Guiseppe Castiglione showed an early talent for drawing and after accompanying a mission to China became a pioneer in adapting western techniques to Chinese art. By the time he was entrusted to design and oversee the building of the magnificent project, the Italian-born Jesuit had learned to integrate loyalty to his art, fidelity to his religious beliefs and the need to please his irascible masters, three successive Qing Emperors. In previous years he had suffered from the influence of powerful anti-Christian enemies and jealous court rivals.

In the book’s opening scene, set in 1766, the artist looks at his ‘wrinkled, twisted fingers’, and knows that his life and his career as Royal Painter to the Qian Long Emperor will soon be over.
As he prepares to dictate his life-story to the head eunuch he regrets that the Jesuit presence in China has almost disintegrated, but hopes his artistic legacy will survive. The novel presents dramatic reconstructions of incidents and characters in Castiglione’s life and career, based on the authors’ impressive research of the period.

Castiglione transformed Chinese painting by introducing perspective, new media and a fine sense of composition, sometimes at great personal cost, as the book reveals. During a particularly harrowing section he is beaten within an inch of his life for apparently painting the Emperor with only one ear. In fact, he has departed from Chinese portrait conventions by painting him in profile.

The background of suspicion, violent outbreaks and cultural divisions form a backdrop to the varied personalities of Castiglione and his friends. Life in the Forbidden City during the years of China’s last dynasty is far from easy, and it is his devotion to his art as much as his religious convictions that enable him to survive.

Claustrophobic encounters in the Forbidden City and the grandeur of the northern hunting grounds alternate with dangerous journeys and glimpses of life as lived by ordinary peasants. The artist’s memoirs offer a ring-side seat at traditional weddings, famine-struck villages and the Yellow River in Flood, all delivered in fascinating detail.

Admirers of Chinese painting will welcome the description of iconic paintings, familiar to western art-lovers by visits to exhibitions such as The Three Emperors at the Royal Academy in 2005-6. Three of his works are reproduced in black and white within the text and two in colour on the book covers.
Castiglione’s story raises perennial questions about artistic expression and political power; the authors of Vermilion Ink are to be congratulated on a book that combines scope and relevance with a moving personal history.

Vermilion Ink by David Su Li-Qun and Diana Gore (2010) is available in paperback from Amazon .com. Kindle users can buy it from Amazon .co.uk. It is also available from: Arthur Probsthain Booksellers, 41, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3PE Tel: 020-7636-1096 For details of the book launch on July 4th please telephone

Sheila Cornelius is a freelance reviewer and author of New Chinese Cinema: Challenging Representation (CUP) 2002