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The Peach Blossom Spring 桃花源圖

An ink and color handscroll of a landscape scene, mountains in the background, a river in the foreground and trees throughout the midground
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • An ink and color handscroll of a landscape scene, mountains in the background, a river in the foreground and trees throughout the midground

Date:

Late Ming (1368–1644) or early Qing (1644–1912) dynasty 明朝

Artist:

Artist unknown (17th century), spurious signature of Qiu Ying 仇英 (c. 1500-1552)
Chinese

About this artwork

This painting illustrates a fable written by Tao Qian (365-427). From right to left, the scroll depicts a fisherman’s accidental discovery of a peaceful and bountiful farming valley, which is isolated within a mountain cave. The valley’s inhabitants, who had fled from political turmoil six centuries earlier, are unaware of subsequent events in the outside world. Blossoming peach trees, symbolic of immortality, conceal the entrance to their secluded paradise.

In depicting this mythic tale, many artists utilized a traditional palette of finely ground mineral pigments-azurite blue and malachite green- to evoke this jewel-like land. Qiu Ying was a renowned master of this “blue-and-green technique. While consistent with Qiu Ying’s precise and decorative style, the soft and restrained brushwork of this scroll suggests that it was painted by one of his close followers.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Qiu Ying

Title

The Peach Blossom Spring 桃花源圖

Place

China (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1535–1560

Medium

Handscroll; ink and color on silk

Dimensions

32.5 × 558.2 cm (12 13/16 × 219 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Kate S. Buckingham Endowment

Reference Number

1951.196

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/75361/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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