Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Zhao Lin
Jin dynasty court painter from Luoyang whose only surviving work copies the six stone chargers of the Tang Zhaoling tomb
A desk holds an unrolled sheet bearing three bold black ink strokes, with a rack of many brushes above it, a stone ink slab and ink stick, a porcelain bowl, a red lacquer box, a dish of red seal paste and a paperweight; a small seated figure shows through a round window onto bamboo.
Also known as Zhao Lin of Luoyang
Zhao Lin came from Luoyang and served at the Jin court under Emperor Shizong (1161-1189), known as a painter; his dates are unknown. His only surviving work, the silk handscroll Six Steeds of Zhaoling in the Palace Museum, Beijing, renders in six sections the six chargers carved in stone before the tomb of Tang Taizong, in even, fine lines and deep colour, each with a eulogy beside it. A colophon by the Jin scholar Zhao Bingwen names Zhao Lin as the painter, and the Qianlong emperor wrote a poem at the head. The horses match Northern Song rubbings of the reliefs so closely that he probably worked from them.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; served at the Jin court under Emperor Shizong (1161-1189)