Age of empires : art of the Qin and Han dynasties / Zhixin Jason Sun ; with contributions by I-tien Hsing, Cary Y. Liu, Pengliang Lu, Lillian Lan-ying Tseng, Yang Hong, Robin D.S. Yates, Zhonglin Yukina Zhang.
Catalog of an exhibition held April 3 to July 16, 2017 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-245) and index.

"The first in-depth exploration of the artistic and cultural achievements of China's "classical" era Age of Empires presents the art and culture of China during one of the most critical periods of its history - the four centuries from 221 B.C. to A.D. 200-- when, for the first time, people of diverse backgrounds were brought together under centralized imperial rule that fostered a new and unified identity. The Qin and Han empires represent the "classical" era of Chinese civilization, coinciding in both importance and timing with the Greco-Roman period in the West. Under the short-lived Qin and centuries-long Han, warring principalities were united under a common emperor, creating not only political and intellectual institutions but also the foundation for a Chinese art, culture, and national identity that lasted over two millennia. Over 150 works from across the full breadth of Chinese artistic and decorative media-- including ceramics, metalwork, textiles, armor, sculpture, and jewelry - are featured in this book and attest to the unprecedented role of art in ancient Chinese culture. These stunning objects, among them soldiers from the renowned terracotta army of Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor, are drawn from institutions and collections in China and appear here together for the first time. Essays by leading scholars, accompanied by dazzling new photography of the objects, address the sweeping societal changes underway, and trace a progression from the early, formative years through unprecedented sophistication and technical accomplishment--embodied in an artistic legacy that reverberates in China's national identity to this day"-- Provided by publisher.

"Age of Empires presents the art and culture of China during one of the most critical periods of its history - the four centuries from 221 B.C. to A.D. 200-- when, for the first time, people of diverse backgrounds were brought together under centralized imperial rule that fostered a new and unified identity. The Qin and Han empires represent the "classical" era of Chinese civilization, coinciding in both importance and timing with the Greco-Roman period in the West. Under the short-lived Qin and centuries-long Han, warring principalities were united under a common emperor, creating not only political and intellectual institutions but also the foundation for a Chinese art, culture, and national identity that lasted over two millennia. Over 150 works from across the full breadth of Chinese artistic and decorative media-- including ceramics, metalwork, textiles, armor, sculpture, and jewelry - are featured in this book and attest to the unprecedented role of art in ancient Chinese culture. These stunning objects, among them soldiers from the renowned terracotta army of Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor, are drawn from institutions and collections in China and appear here together for the first time"-- Provided by publisher.

The Making of China: The Establishment of a Lasting Political Paradigm and Cultural Identity During the Qin and Han Dynasties / Zhixin Jason Sun -- Qin and Han Political Institutions and Administration / Robin D. S. Yates -- Military Armaments of the Qin and Han / Yang Hong -- The Qin and Han Imperial City: Modeling and Visualizing Architecture / Cary Y. Liu -- The Ingenuity of Qin-Han Craftsmanship / Pengliang Lu -- Popular Beliefs in the Qin and Han Dynasties / Lillian Lan-ying Tseng -- Qin-Han China and the Outside World / I-tien Hsing -- Catalogue. The Qin Dynasty: Birth of a Unified China -- The Han Dynasty: The Consolidation of Empire -- The Han Dynasty: One Nation, Many Cultures.

Byzantium : faith and power (1261-1557) / edited by Helen C. Evans.
Catalog of an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Mar. 23-July 4, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 608-641) and index.

Byzantium : faith and power (1261-1557) / Helen C. Evans -- Revival and decline : voices from the Byzantine capital / Alice-Mary Talbot -- Religious settings of the Late Byzantine sphere / Slobodan Ćurčić -- Sculpture and the Late Byzantine tomb / Sarah Brooks -- Liturgical implements / Anna Ballian -- Images : expressions of faith and power / Annemarie Weyl Carr -- Images of personal devotion : miniature mosaic and steatite icons / Arne Effenberger -- Precious-metal icon revetments / Jannic Durand -- Manuscript illumination in Byzantium, 1261-1557 / John Lowden -- Liturgical textiles / Warren Woodfin -- Icon as a ladder of divine ascent in form and color / His Eminence Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, Pharan, and Raitho, Abbot of the holy Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt -- Byzantium and the Islamic world, 1261-1557 / Scott Redford -- Arts of Christian communities in the Medieval Middle East / Thelma K. Thomas -- Italy, the Mendicant orders, and the Byzantine sphere / Anne Derbes and Amy Neff -- Venice and the Byzantine sphere / Maria Georgopoulou -- Byzantium and the rebirth of art and learning in Italy and France / Robert S. Nelson -- "À la façon grèce" : the encounter of northern Renaissance artists with Byzantine icons / Maryan W. Ainsworth.

Table of contents with catalog numbers here.
Graphic resource***

Defining Yongle : imperial art in early fifteenth-century China / James C.Y. Watt and Denise Patry Leidy.

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Apr. 1-July 10, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (page 102).

Director's foreword / Philippe de Montebello -- Yongle and the arts of China /  James C. Y. Watt -- Decorative arts /  Denise Patry Leidy --  Buddhist art /  Denise Patry Leidy.

The imperial workshops of Yongle (r. 1403–24), third emperor of the Ming dynasty, produced superb paintings, sculptures, porcelains, and other luxury objects that became the foundation for subsequent developments in the arts for the remainder of the Ming dynasty. This volume traces the roots of the Yongle artistic styles to the previous dynasty, the Yuan (1271–1368), when China was ruled by the Mongols. It offers new insight into the emperor's attachment to Tibetan Buddhism, which is reflected in many of the objects illustrated in this volume. The Yongle reign was also a period of active trade and diplomatic exchanges between China and Central Asia and the Middle East, the influence of which can be seen in the decorative arts of this era: porcelain articles, for instance, copied the shapes of Islamic glass and metalware vessels. It was this masterful blending of indigenous Chinese themes with foreign styles and designs that created the vibrant synthesis of the arts that is a hallmark of the Yongle reign. This brief account of the arts is narrated against the life and times of one of the most powerful and complex personalities history has ever known.

Local access dig.pdf [Defining Yongle.pdf]

This pdf is available for download or online reading. See:  MetPublications

Sacred mountains in Chinese art : an exhibition organized by the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois and curated by Kiyohiko Munakata : Krannert Art Museum, November 9-December 16, 1990, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 25-March 31, 1991.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-199) and index.

Essay: Sacred mountains in early Chinese art -- Catalogue: I. The geography and topography of the sacred mountains. Maps of China ; Topography of the sacred mountains -- II. Early symbolic images of the sacred mountains. The warring states period ; The Han Dynasty and subsequent periods -- III. Mountains and Daoistic images of the Immortals' realm. Daoists' holy sites ; Courtly images of the Land of Immortals ; Fantasies of intellectuals ; Peach blossom spring ; Gardens, rocks, and jade carvings -- IV. Mountains as spiritual home.

The embodied image : Chinese calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection / Robert E. Harrist, Jr., Wen C. Fong ; with contributions by Qianshen Bai [and others].

Catalog of an exhibition: Art Museum, Princeton University, Mar. 27, 1999-June 27, 1999; Seattle Art Museum, Feb. 10-May 7, 2000; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sept. 15, 2000-Jan. 7, 2001.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 401-411) and index.

Introductory Essays: Reading Chinese Calligraphy / Robert E. Harrist, Jr. -- Chinese Calligraphy: Theory and History / Wen C. Fong -- Catalogue. Early Calligraphy: Ritual and Art. The Imperial Court and Calligraphy of the T'ang Dynasty. Calligraphy of the Sung Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty: Chinese Calligraphy under Mongol Rule. Calligraphy of the Ming Dynasty. Calligraphy of the Ch'ing Dynasty: Model-Books and Stelae. Letters from the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties -- Essays. Texts of Taoism and Buddhism and the Power of Calligraphic Style / Amy McNair. A Letter from Wang Hsi-chih and the Culture of Chinese Calligraphy / Robert E. Harrist, Jr. Opposite Paths to Originality: Huang T'ing-chien and Mi Fu / Jay Xu. The Two Perfections: Reading Poetry and Calligraphy / Robert E. Harrist, Jr. A Quest for the Imperishable: Chao Meng-fu's Calligraphy for Stele Inscriptions / Zhixin Sun. Ming Dynasty Soochow and the Golden Age of Literati Culture / Chuan-Hsing Ho. The Aesthetics of the Unusual and the Strange in Seventeenth-Century Calligraphy / Dora C.Y. Ching. Calligraphic Couplets as Manifestations of Deities and Markers of Buildings / Cary Y. Liu. Chinese Letters: Private Words Made Public / Qianshen Bai -- The John B. Elliott Collection of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting, The Art Museum, Princeton University.

"Chinese painting, sculpture, ceramics, and other art have gradually become familiar to many Western viewers, but calligraphy, the art most valued in China, remains little known. The Embodied Image accompanies an exhibition of one of the most outstanding and comprehensive collections of Chinese calligraphy ever assembled outside Asia, the John B. Elliott Collection at The Art Museum, Princeton University.

Encompassing works of calligraphy from the fourth through the twentieth centuries, the collection illustrates the extraordinary variety of formats and styles that makes calligraphy one of the most visually exciting of all artistic traditions.".

"Reflecting the latest trends in art history, The Embodied Image carries the study of Chinese calligraphy beyond issues of style and connoisseurship to interpret this art as an integral part of Chinese culture. Nine scholarly essays written by a team of distinguished American and Chinese scholars examine the complex relationship between calligraphy and religion, politics, and literature."--BOOK JACKET.

The flame and the lotus : Indian and Southeast Asian art from the Kronos collections / Martin Lerner.

Catalog of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sept. 20, 1984-Mar. 3, 1985.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-188) and index.

Local access dig.pdf. [Flame & Lotus.pdf]

This book is freely available online at: metmuseum.org

The legacy of Genghis Khan : courtly art and culture in western Asia, 1256-1353 / edited by Linda Komaroff and Stefano Carboni.
Catalog of an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Nov. 5, 2002-Feb. 16, 2003, and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Apr. 13-July 27, 2003.
Printing: [New Haven. Distributed by Yale University Press]
Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-308) and index.

The Mongols and their legacy / Morris Rossabi -- The Mongols in Iran / Charles Melville -- A note on artistic exchanges in the Mongol empire / James C.Y. Watt -- Ilkhanid courtly life / Tomoko Masuya -- The religious art of the Ilkhanids / Sheila Blair -- The arts of the book in Ilkhanid Iran / Robert Hillenbrand -- The transmission and dissemination of a new visual language / Linda Komaroff -- Synthesis: continuity and innovation in Ilkhanid art / Stefano Carboni -- Technical study 1: close examination of leaves from the great Mongol / Shahnama Sarah Bertalan -- Technical study 2: the glazed press-molded tiles of Takht-i Sulaiman / John Hirx, Marco Leona, and Pieter Meyers.

"Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, nomadic horsemen burst out of Mongolia in the thirteenth century and began their sweep across Asia, creating the largest empire the world has ever known. Particularly in Iran and China, the results were far-reaching: the Mongols imposed enormous changes but at the same time were profoundly influenced by the highly developed civilizations of their new subjects. Greater Iran was ruled for a century (1256-1353) by the Mongol dynasty known as the Ilkhanids. These Mongol masters first opposed and then enthusiastically adopted Islam. They became sponsors of a brilliant cultural flowering that encompassed the writing of histories, city-building, and many branches of the arts.

Local Persian artistic traditions were themselves transformed by Mongol preferences and by contracts with the arts of Europe and especially China, as wares and craftsmen from China and Iran traveled back forth across the empire." "More than two hundred outstanding objects exemplifying all these branches of the arts are illustrated in color and fully described in this catalogue. Eight distinguished scholars in the field present the historical and political background of the Ilkhanid era and address such subjects as manuscript illustration, religious art, and the transmission of design motifs across Asia. Also included are two technical studies, maps, a genealogical chart, and a complete bibliography."--Jacket.

Go to The Legacy of Genghis Khan MetPublications  (Online access & downloads)

Local access dig.pdf. [Legacy of Genghis Khan.pdf]

The world of Khubilai Khan : Chinese art in the Yuan Dynasty / James C.Y. Watt ; with contributions by Maxwell K. Hearn [and others].

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Sept. 28, 2010-Jan. 2, 2011.

Introduction / James C.Y. Watt -- I. Daily life. Dadu : great capital of the Yuan Dynasty / Zhixin Jason Sun -- The architecture of living and dying / Nancy S. Steinhardt -- Mongol dress in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries / Joyce Denney -- II. Religion. Buddhism and other "foreign" practices in Yuan China / Denise Patry Leidy -- The Daoist image : portrait of the immortal / Birgitta Augustin -- Quanzhou : cosmopolitan city of faiths / John Guy -- III. Painting and calligraphy. Painting and calligraphy under the Mongols / Maxwell K. Hearn -- IV. Textiles and decorative arts. Textiles in the Mongol and Yuan periods / Joyce Denney -- The decorative arts / James C.Y. Watt.

In 1215, the Mongols made their first major incursion into North China & initiated a period of extraordinary creativity in the arts that was encouraged by the confluence of many cultures & ethnic groups. This is a study of the art & culture produced by the Chinese & by the highly skilled craftsmen from Western & Central Asia.