《虢国夫人游春图》旁证

Iconographic Notes On The Spring Party of Lady Guo-guo

唐代和唐以前的艺术,多有北斗的母题。在唐人的观念里,北斗也是最重要的星座,有浓厚的政治与宗教含义。张萱《虢国夫人游春图》的构图,或受上述艺术传统与唐人政治、宗教观的影响,有深刻的图像学寓意。《游春图》取北斗星图为构图,或意在于表达玄宗朝的人对“女主复出”的担忧,或为表现皇室与臣民的“仙凡”之隔。寓意之深,取譬之巧,为古今绘画所罕见。

The Dipper, the traditional concept for the seven principal stars of the Great Bear, is frequently encountered in Chinese art of Tang and earlier periods. It is represented either as the star array as appears in the celestial map, or as the Dipper Deities. Parallel to its representation in art is the Dipper＇s prominence in the political culture and popular beliefs of Tang period. This paper examines the composition of Zhangxuan＇s The Spring Party tradition of Tang and from the period＇s political of his Lady Guo-guo, drawing evidence both from artistic tory and popular culture. It argues that the painting＇s arrangement of figures is modeled after the celestial map, that the artist＇s intention is to emphasize the difference between the royal family and those of lesser origins, and underlying such composition is the worry about a possible usurpation of imperial power by a female-a worry that loomed large when memories were still fresh of the empress Wu Zetian.