Children playing in the palace garden

Children playing in the palace garden

Unidentified artist

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Twenty-two boys play games, ride hobbyhorses (a toy that may have been invented in China), and enjoy a large masonry slide in the corner of an imperial garden. Children at play was a popular subject among artists of the earlier Song Imperial Painting Academy. Judging from the costumes and representational techniques, this painting was most likely executed in the first years of the Ming dynasty, when the imperial court revived the styles and subjects of the academy.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.