A Ming dynasty painting that reappeared at an auction last year has exposed decades of corruption and “serious violations of duty” at one of China’s most prominent state museums.
The work in question is a handscroll titled Jiangnan Chun, or Spring in Jiangnan, which has been attributed to the 16th-century court artist Qiu Ying. The painting had not been seen in public since 1959, when the family of industrialist and celebrated collector Pang Yuanji donated 137 works of painting and calligraphy to the Nanjing Museum.
