Small Landscape

Wu Li, one of the Six Masters of the Early Qing Dynasty, was a Changshu-born landscape painter. During his younger years, he devoted himself to Buddhism and Confucianism. When he reached middle age, he turned to the Catholic faith after meeting a Belgium Jesuit missionary, François de Rougemont, who was based in Changshu from the late 1650s until his death. Wu Li was one of a few Chinese artists who displayed shadows in his depiction of mountains. Scholars have interpreted this technique as European-influenced. The inscription on this painting mentions a location—Xingfu Si, literally The Temple of Copious Blessings, a local Buddhist site that Wu Li visited frequently during the 1670s. This painting most likely dates from an early period of Wu Li’s career, because the signature differs slightly from most of his works; more research is necessary to confirm the authorship.