Portrait of an Old Lady 1561 - 1621

Curator: The composition of "Portrait of an Old Lady" strikes me as quite unconventional. The frontal view and flattened perspective seem to almost deny depth, focusing instead on the interplay of color and shape. Editor: It's oddly serene, isn't it? The cool blue of her robe against the warm, muted background gives it an ethereal, dreamlike quality. Curator: This portrait, which entered the Met's collection in 1986, is attributed to the artist Ruan Zude. He was active during the late Ming Dynasty. This delicate painting employs watercolors and focuses on figuration. Editor: Considering its historical context, I find myself pondering what it meant to commission or own a portrait like this during the Ming Dynasty. The colors and patterns must hold significance beyond mere decoration. Who was this woman? Curator: Indeed. The deliberate, almost graphic, rendering of the garment with what looks to be watercolor invites analysis of the underlying structure. See how the simple planes create the form. The symbolic meaning in her dress with the bird design, possibly a sign of rank and maybe social expectation as the subject must represent virtue and status of women. Editor: The subdued palette perhaps speaks to an era of constraint, or maybe, a deliberate understatement of power. There’s also a curious modesty in how her hands are concealed within the folds of her sleeves, reinforcing, to your point, a certain traditional decorum expected from women of the time. Curator: I agree. The visual effect of its form over the other traits is that, with careful planning of line, tone and texture the visual appearance allows one to focus and consider how visual language has meaning. The visual signs can, after scrutiny reveal meaning for audiences that they wouldn’t normally engage with in historical portraits. Editor: So while a purely structuralist analysis draws us in one direction, examining the historical milieu provides equally compelling insights, which shows this can reveal what cultural statements the sitter and artist were conveying at that time. Curator: Exactly. And I feel as though these dual insights create a more full vision to the artwork. Editor: Absolutely, and the historical and social implications on the artistic representation of gender roles in the Ming Dynasty. Fascinating!