Images(22)

Yangdi of Sui dynasty and Wendi of Sui dynasty

Wudi of the Western Jin dynasty and Liu Bei of the Shu state during the Three-Kingdom period

Liu Bei of the Shu state during the Three-Kingdom period

Wudi of Northern Zhou dynasty and Houzhu of the Chen

Guangwu of Eastern Han dynasty and Zhaowen of Western Han dynasty

Sun Quan of the Wu state and Wendi of the Wei state during the Three-Kingdom period

Feidi of Southern Chen dynasty and Wendi of Southern Chen dynasty

The thirteen emperors

Yan Liben (Chinese, about 600–673)

second half of the 7th century C.E.

Medium/TechniqueInk and color on silk

Dimensions51.3 x 531 cm (20 3/16 x 209 1/16 in.)

Credit LineDenman Waldo Ross Collection

Accession number31.643

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsPaintings

Collections

Asia

ProvenanceMid-11th century, Yang Bao. Wu Ch'ien (b. about 1090 - d. about 1135); about 1188, sold by a descendant of Wu Ch'ien to Zhou Bichêng (b. 1124 - d. 1205). Chung-shu-shêng, Grand Council of the Song Dynasty; 1274, upon the fall of the Song Dynasty, confiscated by the Yüan army and taken to Dadu (present-day Beijing). 17th century, Li chi-an. 17th/18th century, Ts'ai Shih-yüan. 18th century, acquired by an official. By 1846 until at least 1855, Sun Shou-hsing. 1860, acquired by Lin Shou T'u; 1917, still in the Lin collection [see note 2]. 1925, acquired by Liang Hung-chih, Peking (Beijing); 1931, sold by Liang Hung-chih to Yamanaka and Co., New York; 1931, sold by Yamanaka to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 3, 1931)

NOTE:
[1] Unless otherwise noted, the provenance given here is based on information published by Kojiro Tomita, "Portraits of the Emperors: A Chinese Scroll-Painting, Attributed to Yen Li-pen (Died A. D. 673)," MFA Bulletin, 30, no. 177 (February, 1932): 6 and Wu Tung, Tales from the Land of Dragons: 1,000 Years of Chinese Painting (Boston: MFA, 1997), cat. no. 3, pp. 129-130. [2] Arthur Waley, "A Painting by Yen Li-Pen," Burlington Magazine 35, no. 200 (November, 1919): 198-199.