Hunting Scene

Muyong Tomb, 5th century A.D.
Ji'an city, Jilin province, China

The animal hunt was another aristocratic pastime to be enjoyed in the afterlife; this mural occupies the west wall of the central chamber, opposite the Dancers scene on the east wall. The overall flow of the scene is from left to right, although the horseman at the top of the scene is turning around in his saddle to shoot at some deer who are fleeing in the opposite direction (the so-called Parthian Shot). As with other scenes in this tomb, trompe-l'oeil brackets frame the composition as if the occupants were looking from inside a palace room out onto an outdoor vista.