On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Marvelous Verses without Sounds
Xiao Yuncong Chinese
Not on view
This ethereal album is an example of the “three perfections” (sanjue 三絕), the combination of painting, poetry, and calligraphy into a cohesive work of art. For scholarly artists like Xiao Yuncong, a successful expression of the three perfections was considered the greatest achievement, a creative act that revealed the depth of the artist’s learning and refinement. Xiao lived through the fall of the Ming dynasty, and his melancholy poems inscribed here express his desire for reclusion from a world that he saw as irrevocably damaged. The artist’s weighty poetry contrasts with his gossamer-light application of silvery ink and his surprising, sometimes humorous compositions, such as the man washing his feet in a stream.
