A Cabbage Plant
Formerly attributed to Gao Huaibao (10th-11th century)
14th-15th century
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1916.48
Tags
Charles Lang Freer collectionChinaChinese ArtMing dynasty (1368 - 1644)Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)cabbage
About this artwork
The illustrious Tang-dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770) lived during a period of great turmoil. Bitter after his once promising government career was stalled, he wrote the poem "Planting Stem Lettuce," using the lettuce as an allegory for wasted and uncultivated talent. Painted images of cabbage, may allude, then, to Du's poem and bear subtle political critiques of corrupt government. However, this quick study of lettuce on a fan suggests that some artists took a more optimistic view, seeing the cabba...