Artwork Page for Westlake Panorama

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Westlake Panorama

西湖全景

mid-1700s

China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign

(1736–95)
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Medium
woodblock print, ink on paper; printed with three wood blocks in shades of black on four sheets
Measurements
Image: 34.6 x 55.4 cm (13 5/8 x 21 13/16 in.); Paper: 38 x 59.3 cm (14 15/16 x 23 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2025.82
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

Woodblock printing in color reached a height in China in the 1600s to 1700s. The prints were executed by means of sets of separate blocks, each carved to print a different color.

Description

Revived by the southern imperial inspection tours, West Lake imagery became a popular subject during the early Qing dynasty. This panorama is composed of four prints, showing the Ten Scenes of the West Lake in Hangzhou along with other sights. The vanishing point perspective and the hatching lines that depict shading, water, or sky derive from European copperplate prints, introduced by missionaries to China, and were celebrated novelties in 18th-century Suzhou prints. These prints also reached Europe to furnish 18th-century palace interiors.
A horizontally oriented woodblock print in black ink depicts an expansive panorama of a lake landscape. Rolling mountains fill the background under a pale sky. Tiled-roof pavilions, pagodas, and arched bridges sit along the water's edge and on small islands. Several boats carry figures across the water, while tiny people walk along winding paths and over a large bridge at the far right.

Westlake Panorama

mid-1700s

China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)

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