Yang Guifei Leaving the Bath1700s · Study 2017.65

Context from the museum

This painting relates to the legendary love story between Tang dynasty (618–906) emperor Xuanzong and his consort, the beautiful Yang Guifei. Set in what appears to be an 18th-century southern interior, the artist depicts Yang Guifei in a fashionable dress of semitransparent red gauze. Due to the warm and humid climate in China’s southeast, local silk workshops specialized and excelled in making airy gauze garments. Yang’s nude body can be seen through the red robe as she leaves the bath. Her servant offers her a bowl of soup. The presence of a male figure would have been a breach of customary protocol; cross-dressed as a male scholar, the earrings reveal that Yang’s attendant is in fact a girl.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

Due to the warm and humid climate in China’s southeast, silk workshops specialized in making airy gauze garments, like the one worn by Yang Guifei here.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting only measurement for Yang Guifei Leaving the Bath is 44.1 cm wide and 96.5 cm high, equivalent to approximately 17.4 × 38.0 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.46:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.43 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 14.7% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 128.0 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Yang Guifei Leaving the Bath in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, Hanging scroll; ink, colors, and gold on silk, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 44.1 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?