The Wangchuan Villa 網川圖
Jin dynasty (1115–1234) or later, 13th century
Artist Unknown, with spurious signature of Li Gonglin 傳 李公麟 (Chinese, 1049–1106)
China
This painting depicts the private estate of Wang Wei (c. 699–761), a government statesman renowned as a poet, painter, calligrapher, and musician. Wang periodically retired to this countryside villa, which he described in a painting and in a poem of 20 quatrains. Although Wang’s original pictorial composition is not preserved, this early reinterpretation depicts the scenic spots vividly described in his poetry.
Handscroll; ink on silk