Washing the Feet (from the Dusty World)
1570
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1570
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Washing the Feet (from the Dusty World) is a 1570 unspecified by Wen Boren, a Ming Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a man sitting on a boat, dipping his feet into a wide river. Around him, mountains rise in soft layers, and tiny figures move along the distant shore. This painting shows a quiet moment from an old Chinese poem. The scholar washes his feet when the water is muddy—meaning he won’t work for a bad ruler. The high viewpoint makes the scene feel vast, like you’re looking down from a hill. To see more works like this, look up *Ming dynasty (1368–1644)*.
A scholar on a boat in the middle ground bathes his feet in the cooling stream. The vast river scene is depicted from a high viewing point. The motif of a scholar washing his feet illustrates the phrase, “When the waters of the Canglang are clear, I wash my capstrings. When the waters of the Canglang are muddy, I wash my feet [only]” (from Songs of Chu, written before 256 BC). The passage evokes the image of the virtuous scholar-official who avoids government service when the ruler is corrupt (the rivers are muddy) and resumes service (washing my capstrings) when the waters are clear. Whether…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Your cart is empty
Explore artworks →
