Yen Li-pen [key], d. 673, Chinese painter, foremost master of the T'ang dynasty. He became the most celebrated court painter of the 7th cent. and held several high public offices. Although probably none of his original works survives today, records tell us that he was most renowned for his paintings of Buddhist and Taoist themes and also as the painter of historical personages and events. The superb scroll painting Portraits of Thirteen Emperors in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has been attributed to him but may be a copy. It represents the peak of early T'ang art.
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