Where can I see 明佚名樓觀松風圖團扇|Palaces among Autumn Mountains?

明佚名樓觀松風圖團扇|Palaces among Autumn Mountains is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is 明佚名樓觀松風圖團扇|Palaces among Autumn Mountains?

明佚名樓觀松風圖團扇|Palaces among Autumn Mountains is associated with Renaissance.

Artwork

明佚名樓觀松風圖團扇|Palaces among Autumn Mountains

明佚名樓觀松風圖團扇|Palaces among Autumn Mountains is an ink painting. It dates from 1416 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This work, titled Palaces among Autumn Mountains, is an anonymous painting from the Ming dynasty.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

In Ming dynasty landscape painting, mountains often represent stability and the cosmic order, while autumnal foliage may evoke transience or scholarly retreat.

The Palaces among Autumn Mountains (樓觀松風圖) depicts a serene landscape dominated by towering mountains and architectural structures, likely palaces or pavilions, nestled within an autumnal setting. The composition emphasizes natural grandeur, with craggy peaks rendered in ink and subtle color, while the palaces, partially obscured by pine trees, symbolize human harmony with nature. In Ming dynasty landscape painting, mountains often represent stability and the cosmic order, while autumnal foliage may evoke transience or scholarly retreat.

The inclusion of palaces suggests imperial or literati ideals, potentially alluding to secluded refinement or the Confucian virtue of balancing governance with contemplation. The gold accents on silk further elevate the scene’s elegance, reinforcing themes of cultivated leisure.

Technique & Style

Executed in ink, color, and gold on silk, the painting adopts the circular format of a traditional Chinese fan, later remounted as an album leaf. The compact dimensions, approximately 24.1 by 25.6 centimeters, reflect the intimate scale typical of the round-fan (tuanshan) format, a shape suited to refined viewing in the hand rather than wall display. The combination of pigment and gold leaf on a silk ground indicates a layered working method in which the artist applied washes of ink and color and then heightened selected passages with metallic accents, a technique associated with early-fifteenth-century Ming court painting.

The silk support, a delicate material prone to wear, would have required careful handling; its current mounted state as an album leaf has helped preserve the painted surface. The composition treats the landscape genre with palace architecture nestled among mountains, rendered in the meticulous, decorative manner characteristic of the period.

History & Provenance

The work was created in 1416 by an anonymous Chinese painter as a round fan (tán shéng) mounted as an album leaf, executed in ink, color, and gold on silk. It portrays a landscape of mountains and palaces and is classified as a landscape painting. The piece entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view, reflecting its modern provenance from its place of origin in China to its current ownership by the museum.

Context

The work, titled 明佚名樓觀松風圖團扇|Palaces among Autumn Mountains, is an anonymous Chinese painting dated 1416, executed as a round fan mounted on silk with ink, color and gold. It belongs to the landscape genre and portrays a mountain with a palace, a motif recorded in both the corpus entry and its Wikidata entry. The piece is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, underscoring its recognized status within early Ming fan paintings and the broader tradition of anonymous landscape art in China.

Overview

This work, titled Palaces among Autumn Mountains, is an anonymous painting from the Ming dynasty. Originally a round fan, it has been preserved as an album leaf. Executed with ink, color, and gold on silk, the piece depicts a tranquil landscape.

Its composition features natural elements alongside architectural structures, rendered with a delicate touch characteristic of traditional Chinese painting.

Artist & collection

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art

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