Mao Song
Exquisite Song court monkey painting
Mao Song was a court painter of the Southern Song Dynasty and a member of the Mao family from Kunshan. His son, Mao Yi, served at the Southern Song Imperial Painting Academy, forming a family tradition in painting. His only surviving work, "Monkey Painting" (also known as "Brush Monkey Painting"), is now housed in the Tokyo National Museum in Japan. The painting is done on silk with color, combining ink and gold paint techniques. It's meticulously detailed and goes beyond simple realism, earning it a reputation as a masterpiece of Song painting. Although it has been attributed to Mao Song since the time of Kano Tan'yū, there is still debate about the authorship. Scholars have noted that the monkeys in the painting show features typical of Japanese monkeys.