Ochre Editions
SearchSign inCart (0)

The 14th century

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

39 works · hang 161 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

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. 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
  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. Mahasiddha Jnanatapa, ca. 1350
    Mahasiddha JnanatapaUnrecorded Himalayan maker, ca. 1350Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. 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/1341 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/1341 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Handscroll
    Palace ladies tuning a zither (qin)Traditionally attributed to Zhou Fang, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  3. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, by Pietro Lorenzetti, ca. 1342
    Saint Catherine of AlexandriaPietro Lorenzetti, ca. 1342Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. The Agony in the Garden, by Ludwig of Ulm
    The Agony in the GardenLudwig of UlmCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second room, south wall

  1. Hanging scroll (mounted on panel)
    The dragon king revering the BuddhaChen Hongshou, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  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 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
  4. Su Shi (Dongpo) in a Bamboo Hat and Clogs, by Zuigan Ryūsei, before 1460
    Su Shi (Dongpo) in a Bamboo Hat and ClogsZuigan Ryūsei, before 1460Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. Album leaf
    Sheep and shepherd-boy under a willowLi Song, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  2. Album leaf
    Mounted traveler and servant bearing a zitherWu Wei, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  3. Vibrantly colored mythical scene depicting people, animals, and dragons in front of mountains.
    Milarepa on Mount KailashUnrecorded Himalayan maker, c. 1500Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. The Fourth King of Hell, late 1300s
    The Fourth King of HellUnrecorded Korean maker, late 1300sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art