Gezicht op een deel van het keizerlijk zomerpaleis in Chengde (Jehol) te China 1712 - 1714

Matteo Ripa created this print, "View of Part of the Imperial Summer Palace in Chengde (Jehol), China," using etching. Ripa, an Italian missionary, was working as a painter and engraver at the Qing court during the early 18th century. This image provides a window into the cross-cultural exchanges of the period, reflecting a European interpretation of Chinese imperial life and landscape. The summer palace was a retreat for the emperor and his court, a space designed to showcase power and harmony with nature. Consider the power dynamics inherent in Ripa’s position. As a European artist in the service of the Chinese court, his gaze was both admiring and appropriating. How might his identity and background have shaped what he chose to depict and how he depicted it? The print offers not just a view of a palace, but also a view shaped by cultural encounter, with all its complexities.