La escultura ecuestre en el contexto de la estatuaria funeraria de la China Tang

Abstract

Contemplation of the equestrian figures of Tang China provides one of the most consolidated and disseminated images of Chinese culture. Discovered, unearthed, plundered and sold, and finally placed in bright glass cases around the world. These pieces, commissioned by the ruling classes and conveyors of ancient Chinese spirituality, heirs to a religion where the slaughtering of horses was the final rule, are now subjected to the bland formal typological classification which is a common (and sometimes dominant) feature of our current sensibility. They’ve become victims of our desire to possess, in one way or another, the magic of the old. The methodological argument of this work responds to how sculptors themselves may approach any given work: who is the commissioner and how relevant is this to the artist’s work? What materials are most suitable for the fate that awaits the piece? Will there be any significant restrictions to the creativity of the author based on social or political parameters? Who will contemplate the work? What's meant to be the meaning of the sculpture and how to materialize it artistically? The answer to these questions is not just a matter of color, material or shape. It rather confronts the researcher with the difficult task of understanding a particular human mentality of over a thousand years ago.