Interior Scene

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

The four figures seen here, all elegant in dress and demeanor, represent the cultivation of virtuous womanhood—a traditional Confucian principle that was given special emphasis during the Qing dynasty. Three women stand around a table, perhaps discussing the surrounding books and scrolls; a girl prepares hot water. Though the delicate bodies seem to float in space, the furnishings are rendered with a mathematical perspective that may have been adapted from Western images collected in China during this period.

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