Scholar’s rock

A pale, pitted limestone rock branches upward and curls to the right, its surface riddled with holes and hollows. It rests on a dark wooden stand carved with openwork scrolls and lotus-like forms. The plain gray backdrop isolates the sculptural silhouette.

Look closer: Openwork carved scrolls and waves in the dark wood base, partly hidden under the rock.

Artist

Unknown

Date

probably 17th century

Medium

White Taihu limestone; wood stand

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3197 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rosenblum Family Collection, Gift of Anna Rosenblum Palmer, 2011