The album leaf is figure painting, and the medium decides the pace. Ink and colour on silk or paper ask to be read slowly, the eye led rather than struck.
The album leaf carries the Tang habit of quotation: old masters borrowed, not copied. The picture is a conversation across centuries, and the figure painting keeps it polite.
The Tang court collected pictures as proof of cultivation. A album leaf on the wall or in the hand said the owner knew how to look, which was its own kind of power.
The picture is a small school in looking. Sinocra keeps it in view with more from The Palace Museum, and the shop carries the craft forward.
Object details
| Name | Figure painting album leaf (唐寅人物图页) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 新00188300 |
| Technique | Figure painting (人物) |
| Period | Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) |
| 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.