Song of the Lute
On a chilly autumn evening in 816 CE, the poet Bai Juyi was seeing a friend off at a ferry stop when he heard the sound of a lute drifting across the water. Following the music, he came to a boat from which an aging courtesan issued her mournful song across the darkening river. Moved by the melancholy dignity of the scene, Bai wrote “Song of the Lute” in honor of the courtesan. In this rendering of the famous poem, the only indication of night is the candle between Bai and his friend as they sit in their boat, transfixed by the beauty of the music.
Artwork Details
- 明 丁雲鵬 潯陽送客圖 軸
- Title: Song of the Lute
- Artist: Ding Yunpeng (Chinese, 1547–ca. 1621)
- Period: late Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Date: 1585
- Culture: China
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 55 5/8 x 18 1/8 in. (141.3 x 46 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1913
- Object Number: 13.100.22
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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On loan to The Met
Ding Yunpeng
dated 1578
Ding Yunpeng
19th century?; spurious date of 1607
Tibet
late 15th century
Wu Bin
dated 1591
Shikibu Terutada
mid-16th century
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