Object details
| Name | Playing Ball under Banana Shade (宋人名流集藻册-宋人蕉荫击球图页) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 新00147428-5/12 |
| Category | Chinese Paintings (绘画) |
| Period | 宋 |
| Collection | The Palace Museum, Beijing |
| Source | Palace Museum Digital Collection (数字文物库) |
A album leaf from the Song dynasty. The Palace Museum holds it among the paintings of its collection, and the image here is reproduced with the museum’s credit.
Song painting is often called the moment Chinese art turned toward observation. Academy painters rendered birds, bamboo and landscape with new naturalism, while literati amateurs argued that a painting should carry the writer’s spirit rather than merely imitate a form.
An album leaf treats each page as a small, self-contained window. The format encouraged intimacy and experiment, letting a painter try a mood or a technique in miniature.
Source: The Palace Museum, Beijing — 数字文物库 (Digital Collection). Artefact no. 新00147428-5/12.
Image: © The Palace Museum.