Yang Guifei Leaving the Bath
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink, colors and gold on silk
Dimensions
231.8 × 63.5 cm · painting only: 96.5 × 44.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of The MCH Foundation
Accession Number
2017.65
Tags
About this artwork
This painting alludes to the love story between Tang emperor Xuanzong (reigned 712–56) and his consort Yang Guifei. Yang’s nude body can be seen through the transparent silk-gauze robe as she leaves the bath. The historic scene is set in a southern open interior of the 1700s, offering a view into a garden with a Taihu stone. Yang is shielded by a large painted screen, signed Gu Jianlong, who ran a studio on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. While this painting offers historic and literary allusions for its ...