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Anatomy of a Masterpiece: How to Read Chinese Paintings
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元 趙孟頫 人馬圖 卷
Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322)
Groom and Horse, dated 1296
Handscroll; ink and color on paper; 11 7/8 x 69 3/4 in. (30.3 x 177.1 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 (1988.135)
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The imported "celestial steed," treasured by early emperors and noble warriors, was a subject favored by such leading painters as Han Gan (act. ca. 740–56) and Li Gonglin (ca. 1049–1106). In the early Yuan period (1272–1368), when alien Mongol rulers curtailed the employment of Chinese scholar-officials, the theme of "groom and horse" became a metaphor pleading for the proper use of scholarly talent, and the famous saying of the Tang essayist Han Yu (762–824) was frequently quoted: "There are always excellent steeds, but not always a Bole, the excellent judge of horses." In Zhao Mengfu's painting, which he executed in early 1296 after having retired from serving under Khubilai Khan (r. 1260–94), the circular, abstract form of the horse serves as a deliberate foil to the sensitively rendered figure of the groom, a portrait, perhaps, of the painting's recipient, who may have been a government recruiter of talents.
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