Floor plan

Time and placeThe 14th century, room 2

The 14th century, room 2

Shown from the waist up, a woman wearing a garnet-red robe rests a book and a palm frond against a spiked wheel, all against a gold background in this arched, vertical painting. The woman’s light skin is tinged with pale green, and her cheeks are faint pink. Her shoulders face us, and she slightly looks up and off to our right with gray eyes under curved brows. She has a long, straight nose, and her small, full, bow-shaped lips are closed. Her wavy blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled back at the base of her head. Her red robe has a pattern of delicate diamond shapes and the underside is white, visible where it turns over around the neck. The robe is fastened with a round, gold disk the size of a DVD. Letters there read, “S.K.A.T.E.R.I.N.A.” around the perimeter of a four-lobed, red, blue, and gold geometric design at the center of the brooch. The sky-blue garment beneath her robe has a marine-blue collar. She clasps the palm frond in her left hand, to our right. The hand rests on the book, which is propped against the wheel in front of her, so the frond reaches beyond and above that shoulder, nearly to the edge of the painting. The wheel is edged with short, curving spikes like talons. The woman’s gold crown and round halo blend into the shimmering gold background, which is visibly cracked in some areas. The top of the panel curves up as if into an arch but is cut across the panel over her halo.
Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of Jajarmi, by Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi, dated 741 AH/1340–41 CE
Orchids and Rock, by Gyokuen Bonpō, late 14th–early 15th century
Album leaf
Spring Dawn over the Elixir Terrace, by Lu Guang, ca. 1369
Portrait of Shun'oku Myōha, ca. 1383
Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript, by Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, dated 707 AH/1307–8 CE
"Muhammad's Call to Prophecy and the First Revelation", Folio from a Majma' al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Histories), by Hafiz-i Abru, ca. 1425

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Works made in the 14th century, anywhere in the world.

First room, north wall

  1. Shown from the waist up, a woman wearing a garnet-red robe rests a book and a palm frond against a spiked wheel, all against a gold background in this arched, vertical painting. The woman’s light skin is tinged with pale green, and her cheeks are faint pink. Her shoulders face us, and she slightly looks up and off to our right with gray eyes under curved brows. She has a long, straight nose, and her small, full, bow-shaped lips are closed. Her wavy blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled back at the base of her head. Her red robe has a pattern of delicate diamond shapes and the underside is white, visible where it turns over around the neck. The robe is fastened with a round, gold disk the size of a DVD. Letters there read, “S.K.A.T.E.R.I.N.A.” around the perimeter of a four-lobed, red, blue, and gold geometric design at the center of the brooch. The sky-blue garment beneath her robe has a marine-blue collar. She clasps the palm frond in her left hand, to our right. The hand rests on the book, which is propped against the wheel in front of her, so the frond reaches beyond and above that shoulder, nearly to the edge of the painting. The wheel is edged with short, curving spikes like talons. The woman’s gold crown and round halo blend into the shimmering gold background, which is visibly cracked in some areas. The top of the panel curves up as if into an arch but is cut across the panel over her halo.
    Saint Catherine of AlexandriaBartolomeo Bulgarini, c. 1335/1340Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of Jajarmi, by Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi, dated 741 AH/1340–41 CE
    Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of JajarmiMuhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi, dated 741 AH/1340–41 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Orchids and Rock, by Gyokuen Bonpō, late 14th–early 15th century
    Orchids and RockGyokuen Bonpō, late 14th–early 15th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. Album leaf
    Sheep and shepherd-boy under a willowLi Song, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution

First room, south wall

  1. Spring Dawn over the Elixir Terrace, by Lu Guang, ca. 1369
    Spring Dawn over the Elixir TerraceLu Guang, ca. 1369Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Portrait of Shun'oku Myōha, ca. 1383
    Portrait of Shun'oku MyōhaUnrecorded Japanese maker, ca. 1383Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript, by Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, dated 707 AH/1307–8 CE
    Folio from a Qur'an ManuscriptAhmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, dated 707 AH/1307–8 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. "Muhammad's Call to Prophecy and the First Revelation", Folio from a Majma' al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Histories), by Hafiz-i Abru, ca. 1425
    "Muhammad's Call to Prophecy and the First Revelation", Folio from a Majma' al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Histories)Hafiz-i Abru, ca. 1425Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. Album leaf
    Dragon among cloudsTraditionally attributed to Chen Rong, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  2. Fan (mounted as album leaf)
    Wild geese descending to a sandbarJiang Shen, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  3. Album leaf
    Mounted traveler and servant bearing a zitherWu Wei, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  4. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, by Pietro Lorenzetti, ca. 1342
    Saint Catherine of AlexandriaPietro Lorenzetti, ca. 1342Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. Mahasiddha Jnanatapa, ca. 1350
    Mahasiddha JnanatapaUnrecorded Himalayan maker, ca. 1350Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu, by Ni Zan, dated 1372
    Woods and Valleys of Mount YuNi Zan, dated 1372Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. Hanging scroll (mounted on panel)
    After the rain: fishing nets drying on the shoreTraditionally attributed to Li Tang, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  2. The Assumption of the Virgin, by Bernardo Daddi, 1337–38
    The Assumption of the VirginBernardo Daddi, 1337–38Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art