La Promenade au Fleuve le jour de la Fête de la Pure Lumière

This present hand scroll is a re-interpretation of the renowned painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival, also known as the Qingming Shanghe Tu by the Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145) conserved today in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing as a national treasure. The continuous scenes capture with great vividness and realism the daily life and the landscape of the city of Bianliang. Considered as a master piece by the emperors over the centuries, the Qingming Shanghe Tu had been repeatedely copied, re-interpreted and reproduced from the Yuan to the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty copies, such as the present painting, are often signed with name of great masters such as Tang Yin (1470-1524), Wen Zhengming (1470-1559) or Qiu Ying (ca. 1494-1552) in order to respond to the need of the art market at the time and also to pay tribute to these great artists and therefore perpetuate this artistic tradition.