故宮書畫錄(卷八),第四冊,頁132 &*故宮書畫圖錄,第十四冊,頁211-212&* 徐呈祥,道光(西元一八二一至一八五0年)年間畫家,生平待考。 本幅描繪大臣進貢之駿馬,畫馬光影分明,中西畫法並具,為早清郎世寧之遺風。清廷每將邊疆所進駿馬,命畫師繪其形象,並標以漢、滿、蒙三種文字。清代宮廷繪畫盛於康乾之際,嘉道以後即趨沒落,創作水準亦不復如盛時。 &*The Steed with a Star Mark on the Forehead Hsü Ch’eng-hsiang (fl. 1821-1850) Ch’ing Dynasty The life of Hsü Ch’eng-hsiang, a 19th-century court painter, is not well known. Hsü Ch’eng-hsiang’s portraiture shows the special chiaroscuro technique, a combination of Chinese and western traditions originally adopted by Giuseppe Castiglione in the early Ch’ing dynasty. The horse portrayed here was one presented by Chi-ling-o, the Head Guard of the Ch’ien-ch’ing Palace, in 1823. It was a court practice that tributary horses presented from borderlands were portrayed for imperial inspection. Three languages: Chinese, Manchu, and Mongolian, were employed to record the vital data of horses thus portrayed. Court painting flourished in early Ch’ing dynasty, especially, from the K’ang-hsi to the Ch’ien-lung reign (1662-1795). Then it declined during the Chia-ch’ing and the Tao-kuang periods (1796-1849). From then never regained the spirit and quality of the earlier Ch’ing years. &*1.林柏亭、張華芝,〈清徐呈祥畫星額駿〉,收入林柏亭、張華芝編,《畫馬名品特展圖錄》(臺北:國立故宮博物院,1990年元月初版),頁107。