The Pure Whiteness of Winter

The Pure Whiteness of Winter

Xu Jing  (Chinese, active first half 15th century)

Period:

Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Date:

dated 1441

Culture:

China

Medium:

Hanging scroll; ink on silk

Dimensions:

Image: 58 7/8 x 30 in. (149.5 x 76.2 cm) Overall with mounting: 107 3/4 x 37 1/4 in. (273.7 x 94.6 cm) Overall with knobs: 107 3/4 x 41 1/4 in. (273.7 x 104.8 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Flowering through snow and cold, plum blossoms are popular symbols of court beauties and of reclusion; as such, they embody romance, tears, lost loves, and the eternal return of springtime. Xu Jing entitled his painting The Pure Whiteness of Winter, partaking of a tradition of imagery in poetry and painting that goes back one thousand years.