Artworks

Heavenly Horse on a saddle flap, Ch’ŏnmach’ong

Artwork · Anonymous · 5th century–6th century · painting

A white winged horse painted on a birch-bark saddle flap, from the Heavenly Horse tomb in Kyŏngju, excavated in 1973 with 140 objects including a Syrian blue glass cup — one of Korea’s earliest paintings, and evidence of the importance of horses in Silla. It recalls the Flying Horse of Gansu or, for some, a unicorn (kirin). 1 Portal 2000, pp. 60–61, fig. 32. ↩ Literatur Portal 2000: Jane Portal, Korea: Art and Archaeology, London: British Museum Press 2000.