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Insects and Bamboo
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Insects and Bamboo

1200s · Album leaf; ink and light color on silk

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

This painting represents a microcosm (a world in small) of the Jiangnan ecosystem: while the bush cricket feeds on bamboo, the male widow-skimmer dragonfly is a predator of small insects like mosquitos. Mosquitoes, abundant in late summer and early autumn, suggest the fall season.

Cleveland Museum of Art’s own description
Credit lineInsects and Bamboo (竹蟲圖), 1200s. China, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). Album leaf; ink and light color on silk; image: 23.8 x 25.6 cm (9 3/8 x 10 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith, 1985.364
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