Art History Exam #2

Cavalryman and saddled horse

A cavalryman and saddled horse are depicted standing still together. The cavalryman resembles a terracotta warrior and is realistic with only some abstraction. His body is strong and healthy and made with the same dimensions of real humans of that region and time period. The horse is also made to a realistic scale as well as its saddle made of clay. The horse contains actual bridles and reins. The scene depicts a real life scene during the Warring States Period. The cavalryman is assumed to be that of the Qin Dynasty. These figures tell historians more about the military of the Qin Dynasty.

Emperor Xiaowen as Donor. Longmen. Northern Wei Dynasty

Depicts emperor Xiaowen and other figures transferring good karma in hope of a better incarnation. The image proceeds from left to right heading towards the Buddha. Emperor Xiaowen is larger than all of the other figures creating a hierarchical size. Figures are facing away with varied postures and the overlapping figures create a sense of depth. This is a low level relief in which figures are still flattened.

Mask with hooked cloud ornament

Mask that is open at the back and affixed to mabe wood. The head is 3D and the pupils are highly protruding. The mask was found in a pit and was burned in a sacrificial manner implying that the mask had a ritualistic significance. The mask has to large protruding eyes and a long teethless smile. The hooked ornament runs between the eyes making it the focal point.

Standing Figure, Shang Era

Tall and extenuated figure of a possible god or king. The figure has an abstracted face, flattened ears, triangular nose, large eyes, and wears a headdress. It was constructed by a piece-mold casting technique using bronze making it a Shang Dynasty bronze. The figure has a bronze mask with gilding with a base resembling tao tie. This piece proves that large scale figurines were introduced in China before the influence of Buddhism.

Buddhas of the Three Kalpas. Yungang. Northern Wei Dynasty

The Buddhas of the Three Kalpas are depicted. Probhutaratna, Shakyamuni, and Maitreya (past, present, and future). Shakyamuni sits at the center in a lotus position giving the Dhanya/meditation mudra. The figure to the right is gesturing a reassurance mudra. The figures are wearing one shouldered monk's robes made from a clingy material similar to the style seen in Buddhas from India. It is likely that Buddhist disciples wanted to copy what was seen in India and keep the Mathura regional style to ensure that they didn't leave out key elements of Buddha. This is also seen in the full face, round head, and smile of the figures that bears resemblance to the Mathura style. Both figures have ushnisha, urna, elongated earlobes, and halos. These figures were in patronage to the imperials and were erected out of sandstone.

Buddhas of the Three Kalpas. Longmen. Northern Wei Dynasty

The Buddhas of the Three Kalpas, Prabhutaratna, Shakyamuni, Maitreya (past, present, and future) are represented and honored through these sculpted figures. There are 11 total figures. Shakyamuni is seated giving the reassurance and giving mudras. Beside these figures are bodhisattvas. Shakyamuni has two disciples, Ananya and Kasyapa. The figures are carved out of a limestone cliff and are naturalistic in appearance. They are seen to have more Chinese style with ripping patterns/uneven hems, sloping shoulders, longer faces, slight smiles, head and hands out of proportion, flat hair. The bodhisattvas are bare chested. Figures are wearing traditional court robes. This work displays the start of Chinese style in Buddhist art. Walls are all carved and there are remnants of pigment throughout. Chinese artists are no longer concerned with preserving the original features of Buddhist figures from India.

Guang

The Guang is a Chinese wine vessel from the Shang Dynasty made from cast bronze and recognized by its pale green patina. The wine vessel contains zoomorphic designs (birds, dragons, and other mythical creatures), varied animal motifs, and taotie on neck, lid, and lower left portions. There is also a bilateral symmetry. This vessel is used for the worship of ancestors. This wine vessel was specifically used during ritual banquets by Shang kings to illustrate the transformation that happens when ancestors leave this world for the afterlife. This vessel is also related to hunting life in the Shang which is seen through the images depicted on the body and reflects Chinese attitude toward nature during the time period.

Jia

The Jia is a Chinese wine vessel from the Shang Dynasty made from the use of a piece-mold casting technique involving clay in casting bronze. The design is simple, containing taotie and zoomorphic images. Associate with start of the bronze age and the beginning of the Shang Dynasty. The vessel was used in the worship of ancestors, a common ritual in Daoism. The wine vessel was specifically used for libations in which wine was poured for the veneration of ancestors. These rituals would take place at feasts and were also seen exhibited at ancestral halls and temples. Many times, they were found buried in tombs for use in the afterlife.

Zun

The Zun is a wine vessel that was made into the shape of an owl by the use of piece-mold-casting and bronze. The owl has a broad mouth used for pouring the wine, high neck, and large body. The owl looks solemn and powerful and may be symbolic of death. The figure is decorated with taotie and zoomorphic forms. Taotie décor symbolizes a demonic face of the sacrificial animal. Animal designs contain iconographic meaning which was said to help with communication with the dead. Contains beasts and birds. Vessel contains the inscription of two characters "fuhao" which is the name of a legendary woman during the Shang Dynasty who could be a possible patron. This vessel was used until the end of the Shang Dynasty and start of the Northern Song era.

Thirteen Emperors

Thirteen emperors with fleshy, corpulent, hefty sizes are depicted on a handscroll made from ink and color on silk and shading techniques. This piece emerged in the Tang Dynasty and might have been intended for emperors or courtroom art.

Painted banner

This painted banner was used as a funerary banner to honor Lady Dai. It was draped over her coffin after her death to attract the spirit of the deceased to her tomb. The spirit's significance was to lead Lady Dai into her journey of the afterlife. It is located in the elite well-furnished tomb of Marquess of Dai owing to her high societal status. The banner is in a T-Shape and is painted on silk of about six feet. The scenes depicted on the banner are naturalistic and the figures overlap to create a sense of depth. The scene is framed with dragons and decorated . It is divided vertically into Yin Yang and horizontally into the three realms of heaven, earth, and the underworld. The banner is decorated with grave goods, legends, and spiritual symbols of immortality. The upper left (yin) contains a crescent moon, toad and jade rabbit above the clouds. The center depucts Queen Xiwangmu with huma body and dragon tail. The right (yang) holds the sun crown of a dragon and ten suns. A bi separates Lady Dai from the afterlife. The banner contains a cosmological map. The painting comes from the peaceful Han Dynasty during the mythocentic age which explains the close human and supernatural relationship depicted. This is an early example of pictorial art in China and features the earliest known portrait in Chinese painting. It gives historians understanding of how artists began to represent depth and space in early Chinese painting.

Jing Ke's Assassination Attempt and Scene of Celebration in a Pavilion

This painting is centered around Jing Ke and his assassination attempt of Ying Zheng, King of Qin who later became Emperor of China. King Qin is on the left, Qin Wuyang is kneeling in the middle, and Jing Ke is on the right and being seized. In the center of a column is the dagger that Jing Ke threw and missed the king with. There is also an opened box with a head inside by the column. This image serves as a preservation of the historical event that took place during the Qin Dynasty. The artist used stone rubbing as the technique to create this image.

Admonitions of the Court Instructress to the Palace Ladies

This painting was created by Zhang Hua to illustrate his poem about how the behaviors of the empress ought to be. It is satirical and was directed at Empress Jia. The narrative is executed in linear style. It is used as a handscroll and uses ink and color on silk. The painting has a limited color palatte and uses shading which was not used until Buddhist art. The top right has red marks, there are seal impressions, and carved names. Seals are likely to have been those of collectors. o 2 separate scenes ♣ Bedroom Area • Zhang Hua is visiting a consort in her bed chamber. The characters lack intimacy creating a tension. Emperor sitting on bench with the woman gazing back. • The space is complicated and enclosed with an inverted perspective ♣ The instructress • The final scene shows the Court Instructress writing her admonitions on a scroll, her head bowed in concentration, whilst two court ladies walk towards her. The instructress is speaking to the palace ladies. Lady Ban concubine of Han emperor refused to ride in imperial litter with the emperor. Emperor is looking out window towards lady Ban. The figures are tall, slender and completely clothed. The garments are trailed out with scooped up fronts. The figures carrying litter struggle under the weight.

Night-Shining White

• Artist o Court painter • Subject o Charger of Emperor Xuanzong o Horse galloping in a thicket of bamboo trees • Symbolism o Horse is symbolic of the Chinese myth that horses are dragons in disguise o Represents the horse and its spirit o The spirit and energy of the horse is depicted through the fiery eyed, flared nostrils, and dancing hooves • Stylistic features o Volume and three dimensionality o Capturing movement • Patronage o The emperor of the Tang • Medium/Technique o Handscroll o Brush, ink, and paper o Ink on paper o Delicate ink shading

Cup Stand

• Function/Context o First ware made specifically for the chinese imperial court • Medium/technique o Reducing atmosphere o Ru ♣ Rare ceramic ware o Shape from objects made of silver or lacquer • Stylistic features o Lobe shaped o Simple and elegant o Light blue crackled glaze o Floral motifs o Undecorated

Western Pure Land

• Historical significance o Reflects the beliefs of Pure Land Buddhism • Symbolism o Central part of mural displays the Buddha of the West enthroned and surrounded by multiple enlightened beings o Fear of the ending of the world or eon was coming influenced this work • Subject o Buddha of the West (Amitabha) ♣ Round head, bee stung lips, solemn gaze, full figure, regular monk's robe, snail-shell blue curls o Avalokiteshvara (观音) ♣ Androgynous ♣ Attendant bodhisattva on amitabha's left hand • Medium/Technique o Mural o Contained in the cave temple, Mogao Grottoes • Stylistic features o Angelic creatures, trees, blossoms and smells, groups of musicians and dancers o Mineral pigments on clay surface on stone (limited palate) o Layout- single point perspective, arranged symmetrically, parallel lines moving together to a vanishing point in the center (western approach to perspective) o Creates a symmetry and hierarchy of forms • Function o Used to visualize a paradise (world piece, western pure land, create one's own rebirth)

Twelve Views of Landscape

• Subject o Landscape ♣ Four scenes- distant mountains, wild geese, ferry returning to misty village, fisherman playing the flute in tranquility, anchoring on a misty bank at dusk • Stylistic features o Painter emphasizes gnarled and angular branches of the blossoming plum trees ♣ Dominating foreground o One corner composition ♣ Creates an area of negative space • Medium/Technique o Fan shaped album leaf o Use of distinctive ax-cut stroke to render the eroded landscape ♣ Triangular in shape ♣ Suggests the texture of wood chopped by an ax

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains

• Subject o Landscape ♣ Low hills and a broad river through mountain peaks ♣ Clusters of houses ♣ Returns to river and a fisherman ♣ Grove of pine trees shades a pavilion ♣ Man stands watching geese • Representation of Wang Xizhi ♣ Eroded bluffs yield to tall mountains o Mountain residence of Huang Gongwang • Stylistic features o Archaistic color o 3 years to make o Started with light ink o Layers were added gradually o Naturalness in the way forms were built o Creates sense of texture, 3D, and form • Context/Function o Practiced Feng Shui ♣ Daoist study of topography and how energy flows through and from land forms • Patronage o Painted for a friend ♣ Inscribed at the end • Medium/Technique o Handscroll o Ink on paper o Hemp-fiber strokes o Vegetative dotting and alum lumps of Dong-Ju landscape tradition

Viewing Plum Blossoms by Moonlight

• Subject o Landscape ♣ Man stops on a moonlight walk to appreciate a plum tree o Garden setting ♣ Thatch roof pavilion • Symbolism o Yin and yang ♣ Light within dark ♣ Positive within negative ♣ Solid within void • Context/Function o Reflects Daoist and Confucian perspective following the way or path of nature to find balance and happiness • Medium/technique o Fan mounted as an album leaf o Ink and color on ink

Six Gentleman

• Subject o Landscape ♣ Six trees along a riverbank • Symbolic of virtuous men undergoing a principled seclusion o No figures depicted • Style o Stark and minimalistic

Travelers Among Mountains and Streams

• Subject o Landscape which tells the story o Aimed at connecting the viewer with nature o Offers the viewer an invitation to seek spiritual enlightenment o Represents the search for absolute truth in nature as well as self-cultivation o Separated into three parts (separated by mist) ♣ Gnarled pine trees ♣ Temple in the forest ♣ Central peak o Contains two men driving a group of donkeys loaded with firewood o Buddhist monk represented ♣ Figures point out paths and goals of the painting o Temple in middle ground • Symbolism o Mountains are viewed as sacred and the abode of immortals o Tall pine trees represent a virtuous man • Medium/Technique o Hanging scroll o Incisive thickening-and-thinning contour strokes o Texture dots o Ink wash o Strong, sharp brushstrokes for large tree trunks o Mainly black ink o Line is expressive and fluctuates ♣ Natural contours and texture ♣ Outlining trunks and leaves • Function/Context o Reflection of the artist's open character and image of beauty and majesty of nature o Influenced by Buddhist and Daoist metaphysics • Historical significance o Northern Song o Accurately captures geological traits of southern Shaanxi and northwestern Henan o First painting to be signed ♣ Shows that status of artist is becoming important • Stylistic features o Boundary painting ♣ Meticulous style of painting using a straightedge and a compass o Unconventional and majestic o Landscape painting o Immense boulders in the foreground at eye level o Detailed brushwork describing rocky outcroppings covered with trees o Temple partially hidden in the woods o Waterfall o Triangular mountains with deep crevices o Mist separating middle ground from background o Scenes are made suggestive through separation o Effective use of scale which heightens the sense of vastness and space o Multiple points of conversion allow for travelling throughout the painting

Peace Reigns Along the River

• Subject o Right side contains the rural area of the city ♣ Crop fields ♣ Rural folk • Farmers, goatherds, and pig herders o Country road joins into the city road o Middle section depicts businesses of all kinds ♣ Selling wine, grain, secondhand goods, bows and arrows, lanterns, musical instruments, medicine, needles, artifacts ♣ Restaurants ♣ Vendors extended along the bridge o Where the bridge crosses the river is the main focus ♣ Commotion animates the people on bridge ♣ BOAT • Threatening to crash into bridge • Someone has lowered a rope to the crew of the boat o Left half is the urban area around the city gate ♣ Economic activities portrayed • Cargo loading • Shops • Tax offices • Hotels, temples, private residences, and official buildings o Huts to mansions o Grand front and backyards o Final scene is the Golden Brightness Lake o Various modes of transportation ♣ Wheeled wagons ♣ Donkeys and mules ♣ Sedan chairs and chariots ♣ Shipping boats and passenger-carrying ferries • Function/Context o Captures the daily life of people from the Song period at the capital o Celebrates the festive spirit and prosperous street scene at Qingming Festival o Shows different classes ♣ Rich and poor ♣ Different economic activities in rural areas and city o Contains imperial poetry o Offers climpses of period clothing and architecture • Medium/technique o Handscroll ♣ Intended to be held by the viewer ♣ Read piece by piece ♣ Read right to left o Ink and colors on silk

Wang Xizhi Watching Geese

• Subject o Wang XiZhi • Medium o Handscroll o Ink, color, and gold on paper • Stylistic features o Blue and green style o Realistic o Done similar to calligraphy o Paper was used for expressive brushwork o Archaistic aspect o Triangular mountain form o Patternization of tree foliage o Different ink tones • Function and context o Illustrates the story of Wang Xizhi ♣ Calligraphy master ♣ Daoist practitioner ♣ Derived inspiration from natural forms like graceful neck movements geese o Creates a dreamlike atmosphere o Angry undertones from artist about the fall of the song royal house o Intellectual painting

Tea Bowl with Hare's Fur Glaze

• This tea bowl was used for meditation in Buddhism. Its unique appearance is owed to the oxidation atmosphere it was produced in creating oxide runs and the iron-oxide glaze. Glaze resembles rabbit fur, a style introduced by Buddhist monks. Functions as a tea bowl for meditation in Buddhist. Tea was said to be white which is why the bowl was darker to mask it appear better • Medium o Stoneware with iron-oxide glaze o Fired in an oxidation atmosphere ♣ Producing oxide runs ♣ Fired in saggars (clay boxes) • Context/Function o Glaze resembles rabbit fur which was introduced by Buddhist monks o Functions as a tea bowl for meditation in Buddhism ♣ Tea was white which looked best in dark bowls o Popular inside and outside court • Stylistic features o Hare's fur ♣ Represented by streaks alongside the bowl o Utilitarian ware ♣ Thick bowl ♣ Clay is rough and has quite a bit of iron oxides o Dark brown tone