Object details
| Name | Sketch of Rare Birds (黄筌写生珍禽图卷) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 新00087175 |
| Category | Chinese Paintings (绘画) |
| Period | 五代 |
| Collection | The Palace Museum, Beijing |
| Source | Palace Museum Digital Collection (数字文物库) |
A handscroll from the Five Dynasties period (907-960). The Palace Museum holds it among the paintings of its collection, and the image here is reproduced with the museum’s credit.
The Five Dynasties, a time of division, was also a laboratory: it produced the great landscape masters and the first flower-and-bird specialists who defined the Song academy.
A handscroll is read left to right and unrolled a section at a time across a table. It is a private, sequential format closer to reading than to wall display, and the viewer meets the composition the way one reads a sentence.
Source: The Palace Museum, Beijing — 数字文物库 (Digital Collection). Artefact no. 新00087175.
Image: © The Palace Museum.