Silkworm

Ju Chao

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ju Chao left Guangdong to serve as secretary to the official Zhang Jingxiu in Guangxi during the uprisings of the Taiping. After Zhang's retirement in 1856, Ju Chao and his cousin Ju Lian lived at Zhang's celebrated garden estate in Guangdong and taught painting to Zhang's young nephew. In his fifties, Ju Chao returned to his own villa and maintained a quiet life painting and studying Han seals. This tightly drawn depiction of silk moths and of silkworms on mulberry leaves reveals Ju Chao's playful and observant interest in unconventional subjects. He and his cousin were criticized by a contemporary Guangdong critic for choosing to paint such insignificant subjects as flies, fireflies, mosquitoes and ants. Zheng Qi, for instance, wrote: Certain artists only specialize in these to demonstrate their technical proficiency. How could they have taken such a crooked path; how can we discuss the principles of painting with them?

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art