Four Afghan Steeds
Four Afghan Steeds () is a series of four portraits of Afghan horses donated to Emperor Qianlong of China in 1763 by Emir Ahmad Shah of Afghanistan, and painted on a silk roll by the Milanese Jesuit missionary Giuseppe Castiglione. These paintings, commissioned shortly before Castiglione's death, present detailed information about each of the horses, in four languages: Uyghur, Chinese, Manchurian and Mongolian. It is considered one of Castiglione's most famous works and are now kept at the National Palace Museum in Taiwan (40.7 x 297.1 cm) along with other art featuring horses by Castiglione. Context The Afghan state at the time (the Durrani Empire) was southwest of Badakhshan which constituted the westernmost vassal state in the Muslim confines of the Qing Empire. During the twelfth lunar month to the 28th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1763) the Afghan Emir Ahmad Shah Abdali paid tribute by sending four excellent horses. He also sent an emissary to Peking to present him with a diplomatic certificate in gold leaf containing information about this donation of purebred horses. Qianlong also composed a song about these "Four Afghan Couriers". However, the Afghans failed to make a good impression to Qianlong as they