The Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang Pavilion

The Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang Pavilion

Unidentified artist

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This album leaf appears to depict a scene in which the puckish Daoist immortal Lü Dongbin dazzles the local population of Yueyang by hovering over its famous pavilion on a magical cloud. In this artist’s rendition, the tower is almost a world unto itself, with broad galleries, soaring eaves, and a vast viewing platform. The magical landscape from which Lü has emerged is represented by a lone mountain, described economically with a broad, graded wash of dilute ink.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang PavilionThe Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang PavilionThe Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang PavilionThe Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang PavilionThe Immortal Lü Dongbin Appearing over the Yueyang Pavilion

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.