А Message from the Imperial Court to the European Reader as Written by the Painter Wang Zhicheng (Jean-Denis Attiret; 1702–1768)

French painter Jean-Denis Attiret (1702–1768) lived and worked in Beijing from 1739 until his death among the small number of European artists working at the Manchu court of China during the heyday of the Qing Empire. Attiret (Wang Zhicheng) is rightfully considered the second figure in a close-knit group of masters who personified the Sino-European style, which introduced China to European art and after the destruction and looting of the Yuanming Yuan Palace in 1860 – Europe to the art of China. Being not only the “right hand” of famous Giuseppe Castiglione, but also a court artist of Qianlong in his own right, Attiret performed the most important tasks: He portrayed the Mongol princes pacified after the Western Campaign (1755) and created drawings for the “Engravings of the Conquest of the Western Region”, helped design the European Siyanglou Palace in Yuanming-Yuan. However, the French artist should also be considered the author of valuable historical evidence about culture, art, and even social structure of Qing China. The author of several letters to Europe, Attiret is primarily famous for one of them, more than 60 pages long, where he describes the journey through China along the Grand Canal, the life and customs of the court, and most importantly – buildings, landscapes, entertainment, eunuchs, concubines, life and customs of the Yuanming-yuan complex, where European craftsmen worked during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. In the letter, Attire reveals himself as an observant analyst, coming to important conclusions about the structure of imperial power.