The Skeletons’ Illusory Performance (Palace Museum), is an ink and colors on silk painting produced by the artist Li Song in the 13th century. This painting has the dimensions of a width of 10 5/8 inches by a height of 10 ⅜ inches. The painting is showing with minute brushstrokes a woman holding a child sitting next to a skeleton playing with a puppet of a smaller skeleton and a child and woman facing them mesmerized by the puppet. The brushstrokes are very difficult to see from afar, but as it gets enhanced you can see the short strokes of the brush. The small strokes of the brush and very precise, organic lines of the skeleton show that it’s the focal point of the painting. It catches the eye immediately because everyone’s gaze in the painting
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The only other thing in the background is a tree that has a few branches with a few leaves sticking out in the back right of the painting. The tree looks as if it reaching towards the child and it’s trying to absorb the life the child brings to the painting.
Color in this painting is minimal except for the different shading in the painting. The trunks and the brick building have darker shades and dark lines to show their outlines. There are also a few red objects in the painting such as the woman’s hair ties and red Chinese symbols stamped in all four corners of the painting. The performer has the darkest shading of all the characters in their painting to emphasize his importance in this scene.
The title, The Skeleton’s Illusory Performance, gives somewhat of a hint of what the painting will feature. There are various objects such as a building, trunks, and tree branches in the painting, but those aren’t the main focus of the painting. The main focus is the performance being put on by the skeleton, but the performance is seen in different ways by different characters in the painting. The child is so innocent and sees the puppet for what it is, which is a form of entertainment. The older women see the puppet and looks as if all they can see is what a skeleton symbolizes, which is
The only other thing in the background is a tree that has a few branches with a few leaves sticking out in the back right of the painting. The tree looks as if it reaching towards the child and it’s trying to absorb the life the child brings to the painting.
Color in this painting is minimal except for the different shading in the painting. The trunks and the brick building have darker shades and dark lines to show their outlines. There are also a few red objects in the painting such as the woman’s hair ties and red Chinese symbols stamped in all four corners of the painting. The performer has the darkest shading of all the characters in their painting to emphasize his importance in this scene.
The title, The Skeleton’s Illusory Performance, gives somewhat of a hint of what the painting will feature. There are various objects such as a building, trunks, and tree branches in the painting, but those aren’t the main focus of the painting. The main focus is the performance being put on by the skeleton, but the performance is seen in different ways by different characters in the painting. The child is so innocent and sees the puppet for what it is, which is a form of entertainment. The older women see the puppet and looks as if all they can see is what a skeleton symbolizes, which is