Ever since the first blue and white porcelain vases emerged from the imperially supervised kilns at Jingdezhen, back in the 14th century, people the world over have revered the storied arts of the Ming dynasty.

"It's like a perfectly hit note," said Jim Robinson, the Jane Weldon Myers Curator of Asian Art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. "You don't have to be a musicologist to hear a beautiful note. Like a songbird, it almost transcends language."

Now it is Indianapolis' turn to appreciate a level of aesthetic perfection rarely reached in this world.

"Power and Glory: Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty," which opens Oct. 26 at the IMA, is the first major exhibition in the United States to incorporate the full range of arts explored in this famed period of opulence and grandeur. The show comprises more than 200 artifacts created from 1368 to 1644.

Many of these items were recently unearthed and are on view outside China for the first time, including architectural ornaments, jewels, silks, guns, paintings, wood, jade, lacquer, rhinoceros horns and textiles.

Power and Glory: Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty

Where: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road.

When: Oct. 26 through Jan. 11.

Tickets: Exhibition admission is $12 for adults, $6 for children (7-17) and college students, $10 for seniors, $10 for groups of 10 or more, and free for IMA members and children younger than 6.

Info: (317) 923-1331 or www.imamuseum.org.