{"data":{"id":79507,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/79507","is_boosted":true,"title":"Pillars of the Country","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhCgAFAPUAAJuPgpaRh52ViqSbj6qglKqhlaujl7aomLapmrirm7utnLyunr+wn72xocOzocGyosOzosSzo8O0ose1o8W1pMS2pcW2pce3pci3ps22pce4psi4psm4psi5psi5p8S4qcm6qcu7qsu8qsy8qcy8q829q8y9rM+\/rc\/Arc7ArtDBr9HBr9PDsdTEsdXFswAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAKAAUAAAYtQIviwSmKLBJL6lFqtViIEKMUsZhWHwIAsUhlLCETIZAoYVach6QxEBA4E0sQADs=","width":12227,"height":6017,"alt_text":"A work made of handscroll; ink and color on paper."},"main_reference_number":"1953.281","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1423,"date_end":1495,"date_display":"Ming dynasty (1368\u20131644), 1494","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Yao Shou\nChinese, 1423-1495","place_of_origin":"China","description":"

Together with those of a riverscape, rocks, flowers, and branches of cedar and bamboo, the magpie is one of six images painted by Yao Shou along the length of this handscroll. This work represents a genre of painting known as \u201cbird-and-fl ower\u201d that prized realism and refined compositions. Yao\u2019s vision, however, was far more personal if seemingly simpler. He rendered the magpie almost entirely in varied tones of black ink; the branches are accented with darker twigs and dotted leaves; and the bamboo leaves are rendered in freely executed strokes of pale blue.
\nYao accompanied the magpie\u2014as he did its companion images\u2014with an original poem written in his elegant cursive script and signed with his courtesy name, Gongshou:
In the bright moonlight, why does the magpie circle three times before alighting?
During sunny days, it sings on the green branches.
I also practice divination to find the place where the magpie often roosts.
It stays on the rooftop of the old master\u2019s house, and the stars arrive late.
\nThe title and artist\u2019s biography combine to add poignancy to this work. Pillars of the Country refers to the vital role of intellectuals in supporting the Ming dynasty\u2019s integrity. Almost thirty years earlier, Yao had retired from a prestigious career in government service to become a painter, calligrapher, collector, and scholar. Now advanced in years, he expressed his cultivated ideals in both the willful spontaneity of his brushwork and the informed allusions in his inscription, adapting each line from that of a celebrated poem from centuries past.<\/p>\n","short_description":null,"dimensions":"29.9 \u00d7 759.5 cm (11 3\/4 \u00d7 299 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":759,"height":29,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Handscroll; ink and color on paper","inscriptions":null,"credit_line":"Kate S. Buckingham Endowment","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"James Rondeau, ed., Paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Highlights of the collection <\/em> (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2025), 24 (ill.).\n\n\nSuzuki, Kei comp. \u201cComprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings (Ch\u00fbgoku kaiga s\u00f4g\u00f4 zuroku)\u201d, vol. 1: American and Canadian Collections. (Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982), pl. A3-009, page I-32, 33.\n-Bourassa, Jon Bourassa, The Life and Works of the Literati Painter Yao Shou, Ph.D. dissertation, Washington University, 1978, pp. 108-118\n-Siren, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. (New York: Ronald Press, 1956-68), vol. VII: Annotated Lists, p. 272-Martin J. Powers, \"A Dated Handscroll by the 15th Century Literati Painter Yao Shou,\" The Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly, March-April, 1976, pp. 14-19, figs. 1-4.","exhibition_history":null,"provenance_text":"Qing Imperial Collection. Ton Ying and Company, New York; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, May 27, 1953.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":8,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":0,"color":{"h":5,"l":67,"s":47,"percentage":4.077756897699097e-6,"population":3},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Arts of Asia","department_id":"PC-7","artist_id":37378,"artist_title":"Yao Shou","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[37378],"artist_titles":["Yao Shou"],"category_ids":["PC-7","PC-837"],"category_titles":["Arts of Asia","Arts of Asia 100"],"term_titles":["hanging scroll","paper (fiber product)","plants","brushwork","Chinese (culture or style)","ink","ming","trees","painting","asian art"],"style_id":"TM-4303","style_title":"Chinese (culture or style)","alt_style_ids":["TM-5085"],"style_ids":["TM-4303","TM-5085"],"style_titles":["Chinese (culture or style)","ming"],"classification_id":"TM-335","classification_title":"hanging scroll","alt_classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-26"],"classification_ids":["TM-335","TM-9","TM-26"],"classification_titles":["hanging scroll","painting","asian art"],"subject_id":"TM-12058","alt_subject_ids":["TM-11205"],"subject_ids":["TM-12058","TM-11205"],"subject_titles":["plants","trees"],"material_id":"TM-2982","alt_material_ids":["TM-2398"],"material_ids":["TM-2982","TM-2398"],"material_titles":["paper (fiber product)","ink"],"technique_id":"TM-10354","alt_technique_ids":[],"technique_ids":["TM-10354"],"technique_titles":["brushwork"],"theme_titles":["Arts of Asia 100"],"image_id":"48450f9e-295e-604b-851e-ad66a30712a5","alt_image_ids":["bb5093e4-f8a9-6a8c-5e0f-ac6d59611f07"],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"Pillars of the Country","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1953.281"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Pillars of the Country"],"weight":1078,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-04-21T11:15:45-05:00","updated_at":"2026-04-21T14:25:20-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-06T05:51:23-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.15"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}