Night-Shining White (Zhao Ye Bai) by Han Gan, Tang Dynasty (618-906)

[Photo/artworld.cn]

Han Gan was a leading horse painter of the Tang Dynasty. This painting is a portrait of Zhao Ye Bai, a favorite imperial horse of the Emperor Xuanzong. The horse in the painting is tied to a stake and tries hard to get away from it. The horse’s unruly disposition, its masculine and strong shape were delicately depicted in Han’s ink shading.

The painting was originally conserved in the Forbidden City and then was taken out by Pu Xinyu, the grandson of Prince Gong Yi Xin in the Qing Dynasty. A British collector bought it from Pu. The painting changed hands many times and now is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.