Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The Great Victory of Qurman
Not on view
In 1760 the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–96) commissioned sixteen monumental paintings to commemorate his victories in the East Turkestan campaign for display in the Hall of Purple Splendor in the Forbidden City. One of them depicts the Battle of Qurman. Only the right-hand side of the painting and a fragment from the left have survived; this fragment has only recently been identified. The complete composition is preserved as an engraving, displayed to the right.
Painted by Jesuits in collaboration with Chinese artists, the fragment shows a well-organized formation of soldiers with camels and mules. The names of four officers are inscribed on the painting in gold Manchu letters.
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