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Facebook - Nationality/Period
Joseon Dynasty
- Materials
Silk Fabric - Silk
- Author
Unidentified Artist
- Category
Culture / Art - Letter & Paintings - Paintings - painting
- Dimensions
each 128.8x32.7cm
- Accession Number
Deoksu 4520
These paintings in ten separate panels, which originally formed a folding screen, depict narratives of historical figures. Notably, the sixth panel illustrates a story of Confucius (孔子, BCE. 551‒479) as he tested the usage of the qiqi (欹器, literally leaning or inclining vessel) at the royal ancestral shrine of the Zhou Dynasty. This vessel is lopsided when empty and overturns when filled with water. It stands straight only when half-full. In this manner, it conveys a cautionary message of moderation. The paintings of the screen are presumed to have been produced in the early nineteenth century by a court painter at the Royal Academy of Painting (圖畫署, Dohwaseo) in the style of Kim Hong-do (金弘道, 1745‒after 1806).
