In the past few days, the special exhibition of the bronze statue of the beast head of the Old Summer Palace is being held in the Beijing Old Summer Palace Museum, and the ox head, tiger head, monkey head, pig head and horse head in the twelve animal heads of the Old Summer Palace are reunited in the Old Summer Palace after a lapse of 163 years.
The bronze statue of the beast head in the Old Summer Palace was originally a component of the 12 zodiac fountains in the Haiyan Hall of the Old Summer Palace, and the horse head in the five songs officially returned to the Old Summer Palace in 2020. According to the work arrangement of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the School of Archaeology, Culture and Museums of Peking University has analyzed and tested the bronze statue of the horse's head by using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometers, X-ray cameras and other methods to understand the material and casting process of the horse's head.
Chen Hui, Director of the Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Center of the Management Office of the Old Summer Palace: It is mainly made of red copper, containing lead and iron alloys, which has not rusted after a hundred years, and contains fine light and is very exquisite. Its casting process is also made in one piece by the lost wax method, and the shape is very realistic and realistic, which is not quite the same as the horse in our traditional Chinese painting. You can also see, including the horse's mane, that its nose seems to be breathing, and it has a sense of breathing, which is subtle and subtle, and has a musculoskeletal sense.
After a long period of displacement, the heads of the ox, the tiger and the monkey that returned to the motherland in 2000 and the pig heads that returned in 2003 are all in the collection of the Poly Art Museum, and each piece is beautifully shaped. According to expert research, they were all damaged to varying degrees during the loss process.
Zhan Chunhui, Director of the Exhibition Department of Poly Art Museum: For example, there is a deep pit on the right cheek of the monkey (head), and there is a similar pit on the right back of the head of the pig's head, which we speculate is a scar left at that time, and we can see that there is only half of this tiger beard about one centimeter remains, and the other pores are visible, which proves that the original copper wire beard was made. In terms of manufacturing process, it should have been very well preserved at that time, but now we can only see the current relatively incomplete status.
Up to now, seven animal heads, including tiger heads, ox heads, monkey heads, pig heads, rat heads, rabbit heads, and horse heads, have returned to the motherland. In 2018, a lot of suspected missing dragon heads appeared at auction, and the whereabouts of snake, sheep, chicken and dog heads are still unknown.
The "Water Law" is a combination of Chinese and Western The head of the beast is both a fountain and a time
The special exhibition of the bronze statue of the head of the beast in the Old Summer Palace will last until October 29. The 12 zodiac animal heads of the Old Summer Palace are the red bronze statues of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, which were originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Old Summer Palace, and can also be famous for the time of the water at the same time.
In the Western Building Scenic Area of the Old Summer Palace, there are a large number of "water law" sites. "Water Law" is the meaning of the fountain, all kinds of fountain facilities and exquisite buildings have been destroyed, the 12 zodiac bronze statues were originally located in the "Water Law" area in Haiyan Hall.
The bronze statue of the zodiac is designed by the Italian Lang Shining, the head of the beast is the human body, the fountain technique is designed by the Frenchman Jiang Youren, the bronze statue corresponds to the twelve hours, according to the time node, and finally ensures that each hour is sprayed outward by the corresponding bronze statue of the beast head, forming a landscape, and the time can be judged by this.
Source: CCTV