Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art


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    Hear an audio guide excerpt from a conversation between Philippe de Montebello, Director Emeritus, and James C. Y. Watt, Department of Asian Art (July 2008).

    Cosmological Mandala with Mount Meru, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
    China
    Silk tapestry (kesi)

    33 x 33 in. (83.8 x 83.8 cm)
    Purchase, Fletcher Fund and Joseph E. Hotung and Michael and Danielle Rosenberg Gifts, 1989 (1989.140)

    This mandala is in the form of the Tibetan cosmological diagram. In the center is Mount Meru, the axis of the cosmos, surrounded by oceans and mountains of the four quarters. The work is typical of the Mongol Yuan period in China: technically superb, while stylistically and iconographically eclectic—Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese elements are all present.

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    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • "Textiles in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 53, no. 3 (Winter, 1995–96).
    JSTOR | PDFs
    • "20th Century" PDF
    • "Africa, Oceania, and the Americas" PDF
    • "Ancient Near Eastern" PDF
    • "Asian" PDF
    • "Director's Foreword: Antonio Ratti Textile Center" PDF
    • "Egyptian" PDF
    • "Egyptian Cont." PDF
    • "European 16th-19th Centuries" PDF
    • "Introduction" PDF
    • "Islamic" PDF
    • "Medieval" PDF
    • "United States 18th-19th Century" PDF
  • "Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1989–1990," The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 48, no. 2 (Autumn, 1990).
    JSTOR | PDFs
    • "American Decorative Arts" PDF
    • "American Paintings and Sculpture" PDF
    • "Ancient Near Eastern Art" PDF
    • "Arms and Armor" PDF
    • "Asian Art" PDF
    • "Costume Institute" PDF
    • "Drawings" PDF
    • "Egyptian Art" PDF
    • "European Paintings" PDF
    • "European Sculpture and Decorative Arts" PDF
    • "Foreword" PDF
    • "Greek and Roman Art" PDF
    • "Islamic Art" PDF
    • "Medieval Art and The Cloisters" PDF
    • "Musical Instruments" PDF
    • "The Pacific Islands, Africa, and the Americas" PDF
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    • "Twentieth Century Art" PDF
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  • Cosmological Mandala with Mount Meru, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
    China
    Silk tapestry (kesi)

    33 x 33 in. (83.8 x 83.8 cm)
    Purchase, Fletcher Fund and Joseph E. Hotung and Michael and Danielle Rosenberg Gifts, 1989 (1989.140)