
Towers and Pavilions in the Mountains of the Immortals
Qiu Ying, 1550
What you see
Column-like mountains rise one behind another to the top edge, divided by bands of white cloud. Halfway up on the left, a multistory tower peeks out. Lower down the view opens: a pavilion with a pointed roof among trees, a large palace of terraces and stairways on the right and, in the foreground, a stand of pines on a bank.
Ochres and yellows dominate, with touches of blue-green on the summits and dots of dark ink suggesting moss and shrubs. The clouds are mostly bare paper. Look for the small waterfalls slipping between the rocks and the red seals along both margins.
About Qiu Ying
Qiu Ying was born around 1494 into a peasant family in Taicang and began in Suzhou as an artisan decorating lacquerware before becoming a professional painter. His meticulous, elegant brushwork and his gift for copying Song and Yuan paintings won him the favour of wealthy collectors such as Xiang Yuanbian. He is counted today among the Four Masters of the Ming dynasty, and his daughter Qiu Zhu also became a painter.
More by Qiu Ying
Lady in a Bamboo Grove
Leaf from an Album after Song Dynasty Paintings
Visiting the Plum Blossoms (section of a handscroll)
Zhao Mengfu Writing the Heart Sutra in Exchange for Tea
Spring Dawn in the Han Palace (detail: the portrait)
Spring Dawn in the Han Palace (detail: the music)
Spring Dawn in the Han Palace (detail: the peacocks)
Saying Farewell at Xunyang (detail)
Paradise of the Peach Blossom Spring
The Imperial Consort’s Morning Toilette
High Mountains and Flowing Water
The Arcadópolis Museum has 443 public-domain works in 40 rooms, free to explore in 3D in your browser.