Zhang Lu, Ming Dynasty
158*97cm

Zhang Lu was adept at figure, landscape, bird-and-animal and flower painting. His style was influenced by Wu Wei and Dai Jin, giving more attention to brushwork and mood than to coloring. He sometimes resort to deliberate cursoriness and simplicity to preserve the work's "spirit-resonance." He and Zhu Duan, Jiang Song and Wang Zhao were masters of the Zhejiang school. This painting shows a white eagle diving after a fat rabbit fleeing through swaying long grass. At lower right two mountain birds are startled into flight. One of them loses its balance in the panic. The light ink wash covering the painting evokes a recent snow and suggests the scene takes place in winter.