南宋 趙孟堅 水仙圖 卷|Narcissus
mid-13th century
Medium
Handscroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
Image: 13 1/16 in. × 12 ft. 3 1/4 in. (33.2 × 374 cm) Overall with mounting: 13 7/16 in. × 32 ft. 7 3/16 in. (34.1 × 993.6 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
China · Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family, Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973
Accession Number
1973.120.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Narcissus** by Zhao Mengjian, a master ink painter of the Southern Song dynasty (7–1279), the delicate beauty of blooming narcissus in a mid-13th-century hand. Created during a period when the Song court had relocated south after the Jurchen invasions, this work reflects the refined literati aesthetic of the era—emphasizing subtle elegance, introspection, and harmony with nature amid political upheaval. Zhao, renowned for his flower paintings, elevates the humble narcissus, a winter bloom symbolizing purity and renewal in Chinese culture, into a poetic meditation. Rendered in ink on paper, ...