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Art History Animalia

: Gong Gu, Nine Carp, dynasty, 19th c.?, set of 4 hanging scrolls, ink & color on paper
>It refers to “nine similitudes” (jiuru 九如)—nine comparisons that imply eternity or longevity (“like mountains,” “like streams,” and so on). Because the term for “similitude” (ru 如) sounds like the term for “fish” (yu 魚), paintings of nine fish became conventional expressions of wishes for longevity and constancy.<
-from the Met’s “Noble Virtues: Nature as Symbol in Art” exhibition