Please enter keyword
Mural: Gate Towers
Large image
Two murals of the quelou gate towers were found on both sides of the tomb passage of Prince Yide, the eldest son of Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, showcasing the splendor of the imperial family and the artistic excellence of the time. Taking mountains as a background, the high towers stand imposing and majestic. Particularly, the presence of the three-fold towers with a main tower and two subsidiary ones exceeds the burial ritual standard for a prince with whom two-fold towers are more common. This fact echoes the historically-recorded upgrading of his tomb to an emperor’s mausoleum style after his father, Emperor Zhongzong, regained the throne from Empress Wu Zetian in 705CE. The murals are mainly ochre-colored, supplemented by green, red, yellow and blue accents, demonstrating the superb painting skills. The detailed depiction of the gate towers also provides valuable information about the Tang-style architecture.
Era:
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Provenance:
Tomb of Prince Yide in Qianxian County in 1971
Size:
Length 305cm; Width 298cm
top