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Portrait of the wife of Yizhai

Ruan Zude Chinese
datable to 1561 or 1620
Not on view
This image of an elegant elderly lady shows how the Chinese portrait painter conveyed a sense of status through a figure's accoutrements. The lady's wealth is suggested by her jewelry (gold-and-pearl earrings and an ornate headdress fashioned out of gold and kingfisher feathers), by her sumptuous outer robe of blue brocade and white underrobe fastened at the neck by gold clasps, and by the red-and-gold brocaded cloth draped over the back of her chair. Her family status is further underscored by the official belt inset with elaborately worked plaques and the large rank badge with Manchurian cranes—the insignia of a civil official of the highest rank. Since women were not eligible to hold government office, these marks of rank were probably inherited from her father.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 明　阮祖德　抑齋曾叔祖夫人像　軸
  • Title: Portrait of the wife of Yizhai
  • Artist: Ruan Zude (Chinese, 16th or early 17th century)
  • Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
  • Date: datable to 1561 or 1620
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 61 3/4 x 37 7/8 in. (156.8 x 96.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Seymour Fund, 1959
  • Object Number: 59.49.2
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

Audio

Cover Image for 7637. Portrait of an Old Lady

7637. Portrait of an Old Lady

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More Artwork

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Portrait of the artist’s great-granduncle Yizhai at the age of eighty-five, Ruan Zude Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China
Portrait of the artist’s great-granduncle Yizhai at the age of eighty-five
Ruan Zude
dated 1561 or 1621
Emperor Xuanzong's Flight to Shu, Unidentified artist Chinese, active mid-12th century, Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk, China
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Woman at her dressing table, Leng Mei Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China
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Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi fo)
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