New York's Met museum exhibits Forbidden City treasures

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York put on display treasures of China's famous Emperor Qianlong on Tuesday, offering a glimpse of the emperor's artistic passion and personal sentiments. The exhibition "The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City" features 90 splendid art items, including silk scrolls, paintings, murals, furniture, Buddhist icons, jades, from the Qianlong Garden built in the northeast corner of Beijing' s Forbidden City

Highlights of the exhibition comprise a portrait of the Emperor Qianlong, a silk panel portraying a Buddhist shrine, magnificent thrones executed with impeccable craftsmanship, and a monumental jade-and-lacquer screen consisting of 16 panels.

"It (the exhibition) tells the story about the private garden of Emperor Qianlong. It not only tells the historical background of that period of time, but also presents the pinnacle of artistic, philosophical and research achievement at that time. I believe Western visitors can get a lot of inspiration from it," Li Ji, Executive Deputy Director of The Palace Museum of China, told Xinhua.

Emperor Qianlong was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty in China. As a connoisseur of art, a dedicated scholar, and a devout Buddhist, Qianlong created a lavish and secluded garden paradise intended for his retirement, although he never relinquished the throne, and the space remained unchanged and unoccupied since its 1776 completion.

Maxwell K. Hearn, Douglas Dillon Curator for Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Department of Asian Art of the Met museum said the objects will be reinstalled permanently in their original home in the Qianlong Garden of the Forbidden City once the tour concludes.

"So this is a remarkable opportunity to understand the level of craftsmanship, the style, the taste in the exotics, that the emperor indulged in during his lengthy reign," he said.

The exhibition will run till May 1 and the treasures will travel to the Milwaukee Art Museum on June 11, 2011 in Wisconsin.