故宮書畫錄(卷五),第三冊,頁173&*故宮書畫圖錄,第五冊,頁113-114&*陳仲仁(活動於西元十四世紀),元代大畫家陳琳弟。善山水、人物、花鳥,為湖州安定書院山長時,嘗與趙孟頫論畫法,頗得趙孟頫所賞識。 此幅以百羊為題,「羊」即「祥」也,自古即被視為吉利祥瑞之象徵。畫中岡巒起伏,並以松、竹、梅(歲寒三友)點綴其間,三童子衣著華麗,配飾精美。畫家以精謹筆法,處理細節,人物、羊隻之表現方式,實與一般開泰、嬰戲圖相當近似。&*Ch'en Chung-jen, the younger brother if the Yüan dynasty master Ch'en Lin, was skilled in depicting landscapes, figures, birds and flowers. When he served as the head of the An-ting School of Hu-chou in Fukien Province, he had the opportunity to discuss painting techniques with the superb painter-calligrapher Chao Meng-fu, and was much appreciated by him. Ch'en used the character "sheep" as a generally accepted pun for "auspiciousness" or "good fortune," and thus the theme of the work is symbolically propitious. The scene portrays a background of mountains, with pine, bamboo and plum trees (the "three friends in winter," another auspicious sign) nestled among the hills. Three children are adorned with beautiful garments and ornaments. Through his utilization of refined and studied brushwork, and the attention to details, the artist has rendered this depiction quite similar to other representations of "children at play" and "three sheep heralding vernal season." In the lower left of the painting, the artist has inscribed his name and placed a seal bearing the characters "Chung-jen" on it.