More meditations on Gallery 207


 Because the Met is a living institution things don't always stay the same and exhibits change.  This long narrow gallery contains art from China but has several works I did not see the last time I was here.  This Tang dynasty horse and groom is one. The Tang dyasty from the seventh century to the ninth is one of the great flowering of artistic work of the world.  It was a period of cultural  growth, a golden period in Chinese history.   During this period the Chinese empire stretched from the Korean Penisula almost to Afganistan.  Art and poetry flourished.  Painting and calligraphy were important. The development of three color glazed ceramics like the horse above are a hallmark of the period.. There was also a rise in Buddhism during this period.

Modern day Xi'An was the capital and it was a trading center for all of Asia.  Politically during this period the civil service exams that took the best and brightest young men from all classes to become an administrative class was begun.

The Met has many examples of the art of this period and its beauty survives after many centuries/. This horse and groom were possibly taken from a tomb.


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