View allAll Photos Tagged URL
This is one of ten ink cakes of different shapes and colors stored in an exquisite lacquer box. Each is inscribed in gold with a poem by the Qianlong emperor, praising the ten famous sights of the Westlake in Hangzhou, near Shanghai. The Westlake is famous for its natural beauty; it was a favorite imperial destination and remains a tourist attraction today.<br><br>Ink cakes (also called ink sticks) are dissolved with the addition of water and ground on the surface of a flat stone into liquid ink for painting and calligraphy. The precious ink cakes here, however, have never been used.
China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
Molded ink in white
Overall: 9.4 x 3.6 cm (3 11/16 x 1 7/16 in.)
Gift of Henry W. Kent
Theodor Kaufmann
American (born Germany), Uelzen 1814–1896 New York
36 x 56 in. (91.4 x 142.2 cm)
medium: Oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 1982.443.3 1982
Gift of Erving and Joyce Wolf, in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 1982
Each of the four gospels in this book opens on a page with brilliantly illuminated borders depicting the author of the text as well as birds—principally peacocks, symbols of the immortality of the soul—and fountains, representing the fountain of life and the salvation of the soul. This volume consists of 428 leaves with texts in Greek. Its level of sophistication suggests that it was probably written and decorated in a monastery in Constantinople.
Byzantium, Constantinople
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; leather binding
Sheet: 28 x 23 cm (11 x 9 1/16 in.)
Did you know...
Gospel books were carried in procession through Byzantine churches.
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Only a few letters from the inscription next to this figure are extant, so her name is uncertain. The cross in her hand identifies her as a martyr. Two further pieces in museum belong to the same series as this one and carry images of Saint Nicholas (inv. 48.2086.1) and Saint James (inv. 48.2086.9). The three tiles were most probably part of a church wall frieze of saint portraits alternating with plant ornament.
Byzantine
6 5/8 x 6 7/16 in. (16.8 x 16.4 cm)
medium: ceramic with glaze
culture: Byzantine
dynasty: Macedonian Dynasty
Walters Art Museum, 1956, by purchase.