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明十竹齋書畫譜四開|Leaf from the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy

Unknown

1633

ink

paper

From the collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art

Baroque Baroque

Dominant colour

明十竹齋書畫譜四開|Leaf from the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is a 1633 ink by Unknown, a Baroque work, held at Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1633 · Baroque
Where can I see it?: Metropolitan Museum of Art

About this work

This drawing shows a bird, a grasshopper, and wild plants with thin branches and small flowers. The bird is perched on a branch, while the grasshopper sits nearby on the ground. The whole scene is done in soft black ink with just a little color, and the paper looks old and light. The red stamp in the corner suggests this was part of a book meant to teach people how to draw. It’s not signed, so we don’t know who made it, but it’s from a set of lessons printed in the 1600s. If you like this style, look up cross-hatching to see how artists build shading with lines.