Handscroll, two officials with retinue on a journey

Travelling officials. Zhu Henian. China. 1803. Ink and colours on paper. This painting shows the accidental meeting of two officials travelling from one post to another. Seated in their sedan chairs, they began to recite poems. They enjoyed themselves so much that they decided to travel together for two days. Two years later the painter Zhu Henian was commissioned to immortalize the event. One of the officials had decided to give the scroll painting as a memento to the other.