Ancestor-painting portraying five generations. Nice and colorful painting with a lot of attention for detail – the curtains with flower motif and the screen in the background. The lower part – most of the tile floor, the deer and crane – has been repainted at some instance. A strong torch makes visible what has been there originaly: a continuous row of spirit tablets like the ones flanking the faces in the rest of the painting. As there are no faces in between, it seems to be the original final row of ancestors and thus the original size of the painting. Why this ‘6th generation’ has ever been painted away is a riddle. Canvas, paneled and remounted on a scroll. Shanxi province, mid 19th century. Dim.: LxB 179x146,5cm