Reading Chinese painting: deer theme in the painting of Italian Jesuit artist Giuseppe Castiglione

This article explores the iconography of the image of the deer in Chinese art on the example of works by Italian Jesuit brother, artist Giuseppe Castiglione (1688—1766), who is known in China as Lang Shining, and who worked at the court of the three Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. Kangxi and Qianlong were passionate hunters, what had an impact on the art of the XVIII century, when the images of horses, eagles, dogs and deer are becoming popular.