Title:
Flowers and Butterfly
Creator/Contributor:
Unknown, old attribution to Hsü Hsi (Xu Xi) (d. before 975)
Date:
12 century A.D.
Identifier:
CY.14
Format:
Painting
Album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll: ink and color on silk
China
h 9 -1/2 x w 9 -3/8 inches
Description:
This painting is an exceptional example of the Southern Sung Academy style of bird-and-flower painting, which takes an almost
scientific approach to describing nature. The delicate turn of the leaf and the immediacy of the butterfly approaching crystallize
a moment in time.