Throughout the 20th century, great painters have been employed to design sets and costumes, with varying degrees of success. Among the most successful is David Hockney (born 1937), whose bold sense of form and colour are admirably suited to the stage. His ability to absorb a subject and then embody it visually using only the essential elements gives a great simplicity to his stage pictures, creating the essence of a character, theme or period.

Stravinsky's opera The Nightingale (Le Rossignol), is based on Hans Andersen's story of the Chinese Emperor who replaces a nightingale with a mechanical bird. When the Emperor falls ill, Death agrees to spare the Emperor if the nightingale will sing once more. Hockney's designs were highly stylized, set and costumes limited to shades of blue, black and white, reminiscent of the Chinoiserie Willow Pattern design. This costume is for the Bonze, a Buddhist monk, and the robe's very simplicity married to the high, stylized headdress help establish the character's authority.