Hunting Screen
Not on view
Hunting as a narrative painting subject developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In keeping with the genre, hunting scenes were predominantly painted as folding screens and were particularly popular with military officials of the yangban class. The screen depicts a lively scene with men and women on galloping horses stalking deer, tigers, a monkey and even an elephant. On the far right, a group is just entering the scene. The status of the most important figure in the entourage is underscored by his larger scale as well as by the canopy held by an attendant while other members hold banners. From the winter attire and the sparse mountainous setting, this is a depiction of Manchus in a northern landscape. Also while tigers and deer are indigenous to the Korean peninsula, monkeys and elephants are not. Thus this painting is a fanciful envisaging of their Manchu neighbors and their reputation as formidable hunters.
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