Gathering of government officials

Unidentified artist

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Written by Jeong Sa-ryong (1491–1570), a distinguished poet, calligrapher, and official, the inscription identifies the depicted scene as a gathering of sixty-year-old men who joined the civil service around the same time. For this reason, it belongs to the Joseon painting genre known as gyehoedo. Mirroring Jeong’s vivid description of camaraderie, the get-together (lower right) is rendered with unusual detail, showing the colleagues with plentiful food and drink, cushions, books, writing implements, and many attendants. As is typical of gyehoedo, though the gathering is the reason for the painting, the figures are diminutively placed within an ideal landscape. It is an image about not only social interaction but also communion with nature.

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