石渠寶笈續編(御書房),第四冊,頁2258&*故宮書畫錄(卷五),第三冊,頁578&*故宮書畫圖錄,第十四冊,頁59-60&*1.韓北新,〈郎世寧繪畫繫年(五)〉,《故宮文物月刊》,第71期(1989年2月),頁71。 &* 郎世寧(西元一六八八-一七六六年),意大利人。十九歲時,入天主教耶穌會為修士。曾習油畫,兼習建築。二十七歲時來華傳教,以繪事供奉內廷。歷仕康熙、雍正、乾隆三朝。畫法參酌中西,善畫人物、花鳥,尤擅犬馬。 青花盆中的植物為含羞草。撫則合,踰刻而起。原產西洋,草名僧息底斡,漢名知時草。花盆與木座描寫精細,不見光影的變化,而盆中之草的筆觸已相當中國化,具備很明顯的水彩特性。幅上有乾隆癸酉年(一七五三)之御題詩,可知為郎氏六十五歲之作。 &*Lang Shih-ning is the Chinese name used by the Italian, Giuseppe Castiglione. At the age of 19, Castiglione entered the Jesuit order in Italy as a novitiate, and his early training included painting and architecture. He was subsequently sent to China and arrived in 1715. His artistic skills came to the attention of the emperor, and he served in the inner court during the K’ang-hsi (1662-1722), Yung-cheng (1723-1735), and Ch’ien-lung (1736-1795) reigns as a painter. He combined his previous training with studies of Chinese painting techniques to create a style fusing the best of both traditions. He excelled at depicting figures, birds-and-flowers, and especially dogs and horses. Depicted in this painting is a kind of touch-sensitive plant growing in a rectangular planter of blue-and-white. The leaves, when touched or at the end of the day, fold up and it was originally native to the West, hence the name in Chinese literally as the “time-telling plant.” The planter and wood stand are rendered with exceptional detail and refinement, but with little trace of chiaroscuro or shadows. The brushwork used to depict the leaves is quite Chinese, appearing much like a watercolor. Based on the poem of 1753 composed by Ch’ien-lung emperor that also appears on the painting, we know that Castiglione did this work at the age of 65.