Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Brick with snake-tortoise pattern
Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE)
Not on view
Excavations at Xianyang, the Qin capital, have revealed an architectural complex made up of several royal palaces. They were built on raised platforms and connected by corridors. Their floors were paved with solid tiles decorated with molded patterns, including this one with lozenge- and S-shaped ornaments.
The two large hollow bricks at the center of the gallery were used as steps into the palace hall. They bear lively patterns of mythical animals. The dragon probably symbolizes the east, and the tortoise entwined with a snake, known as Xuanwu, the north. Along with the White Tiger (symbol of the west) and Red Bird (symbol of the south), these beasts constituted the cosmological icons of the four cardinal directions.
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