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object 20 |
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This painted marble relief was in the tomb of Wang Chuzhi. It dates from the Later Liang dynasty, just after the fall of the Tang. Wang was a high official who died in A.D. 923, having served both Tang and Liang Dynasty rulers. The design of Wang's tomb, though essentially in Tang style, anticipated future artistic developments.
This is one of two reliefs that framed the coffin chamber, part of a complex of rooms arranged on a north-south axis and accessed via a ramp at the south. The decoration in Wang's tomb followed the imperial Tang model, with lively painted wall murals lining passageways and tomb chambers. Tang painting was mostly figurative, and this emphasis is still evident in the marble panel. Several ink landscape paintings, which were also found in the tomb, however, were precursors of an entirely new genre.
Much of Wang's tomb art had been looted prior to excavation in 1995, but the two painted marble reliefs remained in excellent condition. The east wall relief shows a group of thirteen female attendants carrying luxury items to ensure the tomb owner's well-being. The relief on the west wall (shown here) is a lively depiction of a female orchestra, along with a conductor and two tiny dancers at the lower right. The combination of these and other paintings in the tomb indicate not only that Wang wished to surround himself with all the pleasures that he had enjoyed while living, but that he sincerely respected Tang art traditions.
The musicians have the ample proportions, full robes, and elaborate coiffures characteristic of the Tang conception of female beauty, which is said to have originated with the favorite courtesan of the emperor Xuanzong, Yang Guifei (see page 31).
The bodies of the musicians seem to sway with the tempo of the music. Easily identified are the pipe harmonica with a long mouthpiece (next to the conductor), a harp, a zheng (a plucked instrument), and a pipa (a Chinese lute). One musician also beats a large drum. The artists who sculpted these reliefs had a keen eye for accuracy.
Painted reliefs of this size and quality are rare from this period. Possibly artisans formerly employed in stone sculpture and relief carving at Buddhist sites, who had been displaced by the persecutions ending in A.D. 845, found new employment decorating tomb chambers such as Wang Chuzhi's.
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