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Photograph by Jean Vong, Rubin Museum of Art, 2013.
Metaphors and Measurements of the Human Body (chapters 3 & 4)
Photograph by Jean Vong, Rubin Museum of Art, 2013.
Photograph by Jean Vong, Rubin Museum of Art, 2013.

Metaphors and Measurements of the Human Body (chapters 3 & 4)

OriginChentsa, Amdo region, Northeastern Tibet (Jianzha, Qinghai Province, China)
Artist Hua Khar active 1990s, Qinghai Province, China
Date1995-1996
Dimensions59 x 42 1/8 x 1 7/8 in. (149.9 x 107 x 4.8 cm)

MediumPigments on cloth
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin Private Collection
Object numberC2014.9.6
DescriptionThis painting depicts measurements of and metaphors about the body used to help students and practitioners memorize portions of medical texts. It compares parts of the body to components of a Tibetan house ("the twenty-four ribs are like well-laid rafters") as well as organs to members of a royal family and government ("the heart is like a king seated on his throne") and to common household items ("the stomach is like a cooking pot"). This modern painting is a copy of a work from the important seventeenth-century set of medical paintings.
Not on view