This album leaf is a colour painting, the Chinese picture made to be unrolled or unpinned a section at a time rather than seen all at once. the Imperial painter’s hand that made it assumed a viewer in motion.
A handscroll rewards the journey; The bamboo subject is the excuse. What the Imperial dynasty painter sold was a way of looking, disciplined and unhurried.
Chinese painting treated the picture as a record of seeing, not a window onto the world.
A album leaf like this was made to be handed on, not framed forever. The colour painting still asks you to slow down, which is the whole point.
Object details
| Name | Colour painting album leaf (虚谷设色竹禽页) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 新00107116 |
| Technique | Colour painting (设色) |
| Period | Imperial dynasty |
| Collection | The Palace Museum, Beijing |
| Source | Palace Museum Digital Collection (数字文物库) |
Image © The Palace Museum. View the original in the Palace Museum Digital Collection.