AGE OF EMPIRES: CHINESE OF THE QIN AND HAN DYNASTIES (221 BC-AD 220)

From April 3 to July 16 at the Metropolitan Museum - Fifth Avenue - Gallery 899

Featuring more than 160 objects of ancient Chinese art, this major international exhibition explores the unprecedented role of art in creating a new and lasting Chinese cultural identity. 50 years, Synthesizing new archaeological discoveries Age of Empires introduces a transformational era of Chinese civilization to a global audience.

The works in the exhibition — extremely rare ceramics, metalwork, textiles, sculpture, painting, calligraphy, and architectural models — are drawn exclusively from 32 museums and archaeological institutions in the People's Republic of China, and a majority of the works have never before been seen in the West. Highlights include renowned terracotta army warriors and a striking statue of a seminude performer whose anatomical accuracy, unheard of in Chinese art, brings to mind Greco-Roman sculpture first introduced to Asia by Alexander the Great.

Chariot Model (Modern Replica) slow by Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum. Original: Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) © Metmuseum