# Emperor Xuanzong's flight to Shu

**Unknown artist**  
mid-12th century  
Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk  
Image: 44 3/4 × 32 5/8 in. (113.7 × 82.9 cm) Overall with mounting: 95 1/2 × 54 in. (242.6 × 137.2 cm) Overall with knobs: 57 1/2 × 95 1/2 in. (146.1 × 242.6 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 41.138. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/40055).

## About this work

An unrecorded China artist painted this in the mid-12th century. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Hanging scroll.** A painting mounted on silk with a wooden roller at the foot. It was rolled up for storage and brought out to hang for a season, a guest or an occasion.
- **Ink and colour on silk.** Silk was sized with glue and alum so it would hold a crisp brushline, and mineral colours were built up in thin layers. The sheen of the weave still shows through.

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- Culture: China
- Real size: about 45 × 33 in (114 × 83 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 11 × 14 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 12th century
- Movement: [Chinese painting](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/chinese-painting)
- Subjects: Men, Horses, Landscapes
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/904.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/904/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/emperor-xuanzong-s-flight-to-shu-met-40055).