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Listening to the Qin
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The painting alludes to a legendary incident from the life of Ji Kang 嵇康 (AD 223–262), a guqin player who belonged to a group of 3rd-century eccentric intellectuals. Ji Kang is known as the author of a Guangling San (廣陵散; Melody from Guangling), a composition for the guqin so haunting that it aroused spirits to visit him. The painting depicts the moment when one of the spirits––disguised as a human––is helped by another to emerge from the ground, while others are drawn to the musician playing in his cottage under the full moon.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineListening to the Qin (聽琴圖), late 1400s–early 1500s. Attributed to Tang Yin (Chinese, 1470–1523). Hanging scroll; ink and light color on silk; overall with knobs: 118 x 45 cm (46 7/16 x 17 11/16 in.); painting: 35.8 x 29.1 cm (14 1/8 x 11 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Herbert F. Leisy in memory of his wife, Helen Stamp Leisy, 1977.199
