Three Horsemen Riding under Willows, Ming dynasty, 15th century. Ink and color on silk. H x W (image): 186.2 x 95.1 cm. Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Gallery of Art, F1909.163.

Reflecting the wealth and privilege of their high social class, three aristocratic equestrians race through an open forest glade, engaged either in training or sport and clearly enjoying their sleek, well-fed steeds. This is probably a surviving portion of a much larger work. All three horsemen look to the left, where the focus of the original composition used to be. Earlier paintings of the same sort suggest their common origin in the tenth century. Certain stylistic qualities of this work, such as the flat rocks in the foreground rendered in wide strokes of ink, define it as a product of the middle years of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).