The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

In the Palace

In the Palace

before 1140

after a work attributed to Zhou Wenju

(Chinese, active 942–961)
Painting: 28.5 x 168.6 cm (11 1/4 x 66 3/8 in.); Overall: 29.7 x 306.1 cm (11 11/16 x 120 1/2 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The ladies' elaborate hairstyles, plump figures, and flowing robes are reminiscent of Tang dynasty fashion.

Description

In the Palace depicts 13 ladies of the imperial household, three servants, and six children in fluent baimiao (plain drawing) brushwork, accentuated by color. The women entertain themselves by making music, tending children, and playing with pets. Their elaborate hairstyles, plump figures, and flowing robes are reminiscent of Tang dynasty
fashion.

The scroll illustrates elegant court life and is a direct copy of the original by Zhou Wenju (active 940–75) from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. Zhou was employed at the Southern Tang court in Nanjing under Emperor Li Yu (reigned 961–76), a prolific poet.
  • ?–1143
    Zhang Cheng 張澂 [d. 1143]
    ?–1509?
    Shen Zhou 沈周 [1427–1509]
    early 1900s
    (C. T. Loo & Co., New York, NY)
    before 1928–1976
    The University Museum, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1976–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Fernald, Helen Elizabeth. "Ladies of the court, an early Chinese scroll painting." Museum Journal. v. 19, no. 4 [December 1928], pp. 333–349. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 333û349
    The Chinese Exhibition; A Commemorative Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, November 1935-March 1936. London: Faber and Faber, 1936. Mentioned: cat. no. 894, pp. 68, 87
    Pacific Cultures, Department of Fine Arts, Division of Pacific Cultures. San Francisco, CA: Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939. Reproduced: no. 154, pl. N; Mentioned: p. 38
    Loehr, Max. "Chinese Paintings with Sung Dated Inscriptions." Ars orientalis: the arts of Islam and the East Volume 4 (1961): 219–284. Mentioned: p. 252 archive.org
    Loehr, Max. "Chinese Paintings with Sung Dated Inscriptions." Ars orientalis: the arts of Islam and the East Volume 4 (1961): 219–284. Mentioned: p. 252 archive.org
    Yashiro, Yukio. Nihon bijutsu no saikentō [Japanese art re-examined = 日本美術の再検討]. Tokyo: Shinchōsha, 1978. Reproduced: fig. 102
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 339 archive.org
    Watson, William. L'art de l'ancienne Chine. Paris: Mazenod, 1979. Reproduced: pl. 41
    Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: cat. no. 16, pp. 27–29
    Fu, Shen C. Y. and Jan Stuart. Challenging the Past: The Paintings of Chang Dai-Chien. Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1991. Reproduced: p. 150, fig. 82
    Addiss, Stephen, Kenneth J. DeWoskin, and Mitchell Clark. The resonance of the qin in East Asian art. New York: China Institute Gallery, China Institute, 1999. Reproduced: pp. 68–69, cat. no. 6
    Chung, Anita. "Collaboration and Commemoration: Cleveland's Masterpieces at the Shanghai Museum." Orientations 43:8 (Nov/Dec 2012): 90–95. Reproduced: pp. 90–91, fig. 1
    Shanghai bo wu guan. Han mo ju zhen: Zhongguo Riben Meiguo cang Zhongguo gu dai shu hua yi shu [翰墨聚珍: 中國日本美國藏中國古代書畫藝術 = Treasures in the spotlight: art of early Chinese painting and calligraphy in Chinese, Japanese and American collections]. Shanghai Shi: Shanghai shu hua chu ban she, 2012. Reproduced: pp. 84–85, fig. 39
    Shanghai bo wu guan. Han mo hui cui: xi du Meiguo cang Zhongguo Wu dai Song Yuan shu hua zhen pin [翰墨薈萃: 细读美国藏中国五代宋元书画珍品 = Masterpieces of early Chinese painting and calligraphy in American collections]. Beijing: Beijing da xue chu ban she, 2012. Mentioned: pp. 329–337, Reproduced: cat no. 39
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 44–49
    Blanchard, Lara C. W. Song Dynasty Figures of Longing and Desire: Gender and Interiority in Chinese Painting and Poetry. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2018. Mentioned: p. 29–31, 34, 40; Reproduced: p. 42–45, fig. 2.1- 2.4
    Kwok, Zoe S. The Eternal Feast: Banqueting in Chinese Art from the 10th to the 14th Century. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Art Museum, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 131–132, no. 23
    Hu, Luwen. "From Grassland to Garden-on the Embroidery Nine Goats Heralding the New Year." Orientations 50, no. 5 (Sept/Oct 2019): 120–129. Reproduced: p. 124
    Blanchard, Lara C. W. "Defining a Female Subjectivity: Gendered Gazes and Feminist Reinterpretations in the Art of Cui Xiuwen and Yu Hong." (En)Gendering: Chinese Women's Art in the Making 28, no. 1 (February 2020): 177–205. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 184–185, fig. 4
  • China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).
    The Eternal Feast: Banqueting in 10th-14th Century Chinese Art. Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ (organizer) (October 19, 2019-February 16, 2020).
    Masterpieces of Early Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in American Collections. Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China (organizer) (November 1, 2012-January 3, 2013).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 19, 2004-April 21, 2005).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 22-October 26, 2003).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 20-April 22, 2002).
    The Resonance of the Qin in Far Eastern Art. China Institute Gallery, New York, NY (organizer) (September 16-December 12, 1999).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).
    Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977).
    Pacific Cultures, China. Golden Gate International Exhibition, San Francisco, CA (1939).
    The International Exhibition of Chinese Art. Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England (November 28, 1935-March 7, 1936).
    Exhibition of Oriental Art. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (1917, 1922).
  • {{cite web|title=In the Palace|url=false|author=Zhou Wenju|year=before 1140|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1976.1