"Palace Artist"

Dashan played the lead role in a 24-episode TV drama "Palace Artist", first broadcast on China Central Television in May and June, 2006. This marks the first time a foreign actor has ever played the #1 leading role in a major film or TV production in China.

The series is based on the life of a Jesuit missionary and painter, Giuseppe Castiglione, who worked as a court painter in China in the early 18th century.

Selection from "100 Stallions", from the collection of the Imperial Palace Museum in Taipei

Castiglione arrived in China in 1715 and stayed until his death in 1766. During these 51 years he served under three emperors at the height of the Qing dynasty. He was the first artist to introduce to Chinese art the western techniques of perspective, painting accurate human figures based on a scientific knowledge of anatomy, and of depicting three-dimensional objects using light and shade. As such, his influence on later Chinese artists was enormous. Even today, students at Chinese art schools study Castiglione's paintings. His works are mainly preserved in the Imperial Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei.

Little is known of Castiglione's personal life, so the TV drama is a purely fictional account. However, the historical setting is accurate and the treatment of Castiglione's character is plausible and respectful. Of course, the series is intended as entertainment, not historical documentary.