A Closer Look
Closer Look is open to everyone curious about art! Learning and Community Engagement staff invites participants to look closely at a single artwork in the Norton’s Collection. We discuss the artwork, its potential meanings, and participants’ viewpoints.
VIRTUAL A Closer Look: The Lantern Festival (Shangyuan Jie)
Friday, February 26 / 1PM-2PM
Friday, Febrary 26 / 1pm
The Lantern Festival (Shangyuan Jie), circa 1592-1620, Late Ming Dynasty, Wanli Reign
Six rare, intricately painted hanging scrolls at the Norton collectively depict a Lantern Festival in Nanjing. The festivities conclude New Year celebrations. Lanterns were hung up on the evening of the eighth day of the first lunar month and were taken down on the seventeenth day, which was celebrated as the ‘Festival of Lowering the Lanterns’. Take A Closer Look at people gathered to enjoy the sight of a myriad of differently shaped lanterns as well as music, acrobatics, and fireworks with Laurie Barnes, Elizabeth B. McGraw Curator of Chinese Art.
The Lantern Festival (Shangyuan Jie), circa 1592-1620, Late Ming Dynasty, Wanli Reign
Detail of The Lantern Festival (Shangyuan Jie), circa 1592-1620, Late Ming Dynasty, Wanli Reign
Support for this program was provided by the Maurer Family Fund for Arts Education Endowment.