Wall hanging with scene from an opera

Wall hanging with scene from an opera

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This wall hanging depicts a battle scene from an opera. A tangle of arms, legs, weapons, and costumes fills the visual space, bringing the drama of the battle to life, and the figures, enlarged to heroic scale, tower over the viewer. The textile makers used animal hair for the middle figure’s beard to add texture and three-dimensionality to the work. This banner might have hung on a stage to provide a background setting for an opera production, or perhaps it decorated another part of a theater.

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.