Artist: unknown
Title: Entertainers on a white elephant, painting on the plectrum guard
on the musical instrument, Biwa
Material: wood, ivory, shell inlay, silk strings and polychrome on
leather
Site: Shoso-in at the Todai-ji, Nara Japan (Probably an import from
China)
Current Location: Shoso-in at the Todai-ji, Nara Japan
Period/Date: Tang Dynasty Prior to 756.
Iconography/Iconology:
Stylistic Comments: The central Asian entertainers seen performing
on the back of the white elephant are very realistically portrayed. The
man in the black hat with a mustache, and a very large nose is characteristic
of Tang portrayals of Western Asian mechants who were often present at the
Tang court. Indeed, musicains and dancers performing on the backs of camels
are common subjects on Tang dynasty tomb sculptures of the seventh and eighth
centuries. This may represent actual groups that may have performed in the
Tang capital.
This painting is usually studied for its portrayal of landscape. The Chinese
artists were clearly experimenting with aerial perspective and recession
in painting. Since this painting is on a rather minor object, it may be
assumed that it was the work of a craftsman, rather than a great court painter.
However, it undoubtedly reflects the main court traditions of the times.
The major feature of the painting is the central valley in the middle ground,
with mountains rising on either side. Through the valley, the space receeds
to the distant peaks at the horizon. One of the visual devices used to emphasize
this recession is a line of flying birds, that diminish in size to become
vanishingly small as they fly into the distance. The great cliffs at the
left may be a precursor to the monumental mountains of the Northern Sung
painting tradition. The trees are seen as essentially small repetitive units
rather than individually articulated vegetation. Another important Tang
characteristic of the painting is that landscape is used as a backdrop for
human activity. The two sides of the mountain, framing the valley provide
a space-cell in which human activity, in this case the performers, takes
place. In the painting traditions of the successive dynasties, human activity
is greatly minimized, and/or omitted, from landscapes. Instead the primary
emphasis is on the elements of the landsacpe itself and the viewer's ability
to explore within the pictorial space.