Gathering at Lanting (Orchid Pavilion)
This lacquer panel, perhaps part of a piece of furniture, depicts the Gathering at Lanting in 353 CE that took place during the Spring Purification Festival, a day spent traditionally outside in nature. Here, cups of wine are set afloat on a winding stream as part of a poetry competition among the attendants. By the Ming dynasty the painting theme Gathering at Lanting also appeared on lacquer, jade, and porcelain. The main figure and central motif, Calligrapher Wang Xizhi Watching Geese, has been moved toward the upper register of the composition.
Colors in this work
Details
- Artist
- Unknown artist
- Date
- 1400s–1500s
- Medium
- Carved cinnabar-red lacquer
- Dimensions
- overall: height 0.485 m, width 0.21 m
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
-
Select a color to find related artworks.
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
12 tags
Subject Matter
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Narrative Both · 99%
The titled subject and catalog description identify a specific historical gathering, while the image presents numerous figures and activities distributed through a continuous landscape scene.
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Figures in Nature Both · 98%
The catalog describes an outdoor gathering during the Spring Purification Festival, and the image shows figures situated among trees, rocks, vegetation, and water.
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Water Both · 99%
The catalog describes cups floated on a winding stream, and a winding watercourse is visibly integrated into the carved composition.
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Flora Visual · 99%
Trees, shrubs, branches, and other densely carved vegetation occupy much of the landscape surrounding the figures.
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Related to Literature Metadata · 97%
The catalog identifies the subject as a poetry competition and names the calligrapher Wang Xizhi as the principal figure and central motif, linking the scene to literary culture.
Visual Qualities
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Dense Composition Visual · 99%
Numerous figures, landscape elements, architectural structures, and fine incised marks densely fill the rectangular panel.
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Highly Detailed Visual · 99%
The surface contains finely articulated details in garments, vegetation, rocks, water, architectural forms, and patterned ground.
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Highly Ornamented Visual · 96%
Elaborate carving and repeated surface ornament extend across nearly the entire cinnabar-red panel.
Medium and Techniques
Time Periods
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Pre-20th Century Art Metadata · 98%
The catalog dates the work broadly to the 1400s–1500s, placing it within pre-20th-century art.
Geographic Regions
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Chinese Art Metadata · 99%
The Cleveland Museum of Art identifies the work as Chinese Art from China, made during the Ming dynasty.
Source & rights
Unknown artist. Gathering at Lanting (Orchid Pavilion). Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 6,300 × 3,304 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available