Minneapolis Institute of Art

Imperial Curtain Hanging

China

Date

mid 18th century

Medium

Silk brocade

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This magnificent curtain served as a backdrop to the throne in one of the main audience halls of the Forbidden City. Woven into its surface are nine imperial dragons within the celestial landscape symbolizing the emperor and the court just as they do in semiformal robes. Measuring nearly seventeen by twenty-five feet, this is the largest known hanging of its kind, a splendid testament to the scale and opulence of the Ch'ien-lung court (1736-95) China, Asia

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