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Your galleryLady Xuanwen Giving Instruction on the Rites of Zhou
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Find Lady Xuanwen seated before a painted screen under the great canopy, then the bronze vessel on the table in front of her and the students on mats below.
Chen Hongshou painted this in 1638 for his aunt’s sixtieth birthday. His long inscription tells the story of Lady Xuanwen, who learned the Rites of Zhou from her father and, in her eightieth year, taught it to 120 young scholars from behind a red gauze curtain, and compares his aunt to her. The fine, even “iron-wire” lines, mineral colors, elongated faces and ritual bronzes give the scene an antique flavor.
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Image: 172.8 x 55.7 cm · Cleveland Museum of Art · Chinese painting: Ming
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Details and source
- Museum title
- Lady Xuanwen Giving Instruction on the Rites of Zhou
- Artist
- Chen Hongshou (Chinese, 1598/99–1652)
- Date
- 1638
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- Image: 172.8 x 55.7 cm (68 1/16 x 21 15/16 in.); Overall: 293.9 x 71 cm (115 11/16 x 27 15/16 in.); with knobs: 293.9 x 79 cm (115 11/16 x 31 1/8 in.)
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.