Wu Niu Tu is one of the top ten famous paintings handed down in China, and it is also a treasure in the collection of the Palace Museum. As a paper-based color painting, "Five Cattle Map" is the earliest existing paper-based painting in China's art history. The painting depicts five cows with different shapes, and the painter perfectly shows the cow's modeling, living habits and other characteristics from all angles with a brush. The painting style is rich and simple, and the structure is varied, which reflects the author's wonderful painting level.
The author of Wu Niu Tu is a famous painter and politician in Tang Dynasty. He loved Danqing all his life and made great achievements in the field of painting. As the representative work of Han Yun's life, The Map of Five Cows is not only the only work handed down by this great painter, but also one of the few treasures of paper and silk paintings in the Tang Dynasty.
The publication of Five Cattle Map originated from Han Yun's careful observation of nature. He studied cows in the field himself, and after thinking about it repeatedly, he drew this picture with a wave of his hand. After the publication of "Five Cattle Map", it was once incorporated into the inner government of the Northern Song Dynasty and was personally managed by the royal family. Hui Zong, the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, loved Danqing's poems and paintings, and wrote an inscription in his own hand, which gave him high praise.
After the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu, a great calligrapher in the Yuan Dynasty, accidentally got this painting, and immediately regarded it as a treasure in the palm of his hand, with the inscription "aboveboard, rare and bright pen". During the Ming Dynasty, "Five Cattle Map" began to change hands one after another and became the favorite of many collectors. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong collected treasures from various places, and the "Five Cattle Map" then entered the Qing Palace Treasures Library and was collected in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai. Unfortunately, in 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance invaded the capital and looted the city, which led to the exile of "Wu Niu Tu".
In the 1950s, a "five-ox map" appeared in Hong Kong. After negotiation and mediation, the painting was finally brought back to China and set foot on the land of my hometown again. However, everything is not over. After more than half a century of drift from place to place, "Five Cattle Map" has long been scarred, and it is not what it used to be. At this point, the "five cows map" presented to the experts was full of holes and mildew spots. The five cows in the painting also have many traces of poor paper repair, the pen-receiving part has begun to change color and fade, and there is an obvious empty shell in the center of the painting. At this time, the experts realized that it is urgent to repair the "Five Cattle Map". Therefore, the experts specially took the "Five Cattle Map" to the Palace Museum to find the master of cultural relics restoration, Mr. Sun.
Mr. Sun is a leading figure in the field of cultural relics restoration. He personally presided over the restoration of many national treasures and was called "Einstein in the field of cultural relics restoration" by people at that time. Mr. Sun was shocked when he saw the "Five Cattle Map". He felt sad about the damage to this famous painting and realized the difficulty in repairing it. However, out of the sense of responsibility and honor of cultural relics workers, Mr. Sun took over this "hot potato".
Faced with such a broken painting, Mr. Sun was very worried, but with rich experience, he quickly came up with a whole set of restoration plans. First of all, we should clean the "five cows map" and brush it repeatedly with hot water, so that the paper color, ink color, seal and inscription are brand-new and clearly appear on the surface. It is this step that makes the holes in the painting "reveal their true colors", and more than 500 holes are as dense as honeycomb holes.
The second step is to uncover the original painting. Generally speaking, the old mounting of ancient paintings is divided into four layers, the innermost layer is the painting heart, the supporting paper near the painting heart is the living paper, and the last two layers are the backing paper. In the process of uncovering the painting, we must be very careful, otherwise once the force is too strong, it will damage the original painting paper and cause irreversible losses. Mr. Sun first gently uncovered the drawing paper with tweezers, then repeatedly rubbed it with wet middle finger, and finally completely separated the drawing heart.
The third step is the key to "five cows map" to fill holes, that is, "filling paper". In the face of the riddled map of Wuniu, Mr. Sun is not impatient. Instead, he carefully pondered the edge, size and shape of each hole, found the corresponding paper cutting combination, and tried to make the paper look even and flat. The last step is to color and mount the restored five-ox map. The color of the original painting of "Wu Niu Tu" has faded, and the color connection is obvious when it is combined. It is necessary to reconcile the colors and carefully color it according to the original painting style to keep the overall color of the painting consistent. After all the above work is completed, it can be mounted and inlaid with confidence, and finally presented to people.
After the restoration, it is difficult to find the repaired marks from the front, both sides and back. Such ingenious remedies perfectly reflect Mr. Sun's exquisite skills. It is Mr. Sun's "wonderful hand" that can finally bring the famous painting "Five Cattle Map" back to life and make outstanding contributions to the restoration of cultural relics in China. I have to say that these cultural relics restoration workers really deserve our respect and love, because in a sense, they are the real "national treasures".