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Today at the Museum

February 9, 2010

"Spotlight" on Temptation, by William-Adolphe Bourguereau, Gallery 357

12:30 – 12:50 p.m.

Title:
Date:1784
Dimensions:22 1/2 x 38 3/8 in. (57.15 x 97.47 cm)
Creation Place:Asia, China
Credit Line:The John R. Van Derlip Fund and Gift of the Thomas Barlow Walker Foundation
Accession Number:92.103.13
Location:G210
This mountain, apparently the largest piece of historic carved jade outside of China, was commissioned in 1784 by the Ch'ien-lung emperor (1736-95) whose own poem appears carved on the backside. The front displays a longer verse, the Lan T'ing Su ("Prelude to the Orchid Pavilion"), a famous poem composed in 353 by Wang Hsi-chi, perhaps the greatest calligrapher of the Far East. The occasion for the poem is illustrated by this jade carving, a literary gathering of poets and scholars organized by Wang at Lan-t'ing, the Orchid Pavilion. Several literati can be seen writing, drinking wine, and collating texts near the Orchid Pavilion at the foot of Mt. Hui-chi.