Scholars have identified this city as Zhaoqing, 80 miles west of Canton on the West River. It is where Matteo Ricci composed the first European style map of the world in Chinese.
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Details
Title: Gentiloni Painting: Zhaoqing, late 18th century
Location Created: China
Physical Dimensions: 84 x 171 x 2.5 cm (framed)
Provenance: Previously owned by the direct descendant of Camillo de Rossi, antiquarian and diplomat. De Rossi purchased the panels in Rio de Janeiro in 1807 or 1809.
Transcript:
A 19th century manuscript note in Italian on the reverse of the panel. English translation:
'Cav. Camillo de Rossi, grandfather of the Marchesa Natalia de Rossi in Farraioli, bought the views of the four Chinese ports in the city of Rio de Janeiro. He found himself in Brazil as Secretary under the Papal legation to King John VI of Braganza, probably in 1807, when the King had left Portugal which was then occupied by the French.'