Buddhist luohans crossing the sea to the palace of the dragon king
Not on view
The Northern Song painter Li Gonglin reinvented figure painting in the eleventh century, infusing old themes with a new scholarly appeal and creating compositions that were copied for centuries to come. This painting, made in the late Ming dynasty, bears a fake signature of Li; it may be a distant reflection of something he painted, but it may also be a pure fabrication. It depicts a group of Daoist immortals crossing the sea on various magical vehicles—a dragon, a begging bowl, a lotus leaf—to the dragon king, who awaits on the far shore.
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This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
