石渠寶笈初編(御書房),下冊,頁1087&*故宮書畫錄(卷八),第四冊,頁52&*故宮書畫圖錄,第二十一冊,頁267-272&*閻立本(卒於西元六七三年),唐太宗時嘗奉詔畫諸夷、職貢、凌煙閣功臣等圖。高宗總章元年(六六八年)官拜右相。工書法,擅畫人物、車馬、臺閣,有「丹青神化」、「冠絕古今」之譽。尤精肖像,長於刻劃性格。太宗起文學館,以杜如晦、房玄齡、于志寧等十八人為學士,命閻立本圖像,褚亮為贊,以章禮賢之重,天下慕向,時人謂之登瀛洲。本幅畫秦府十八學士,上有于志寧贊。舊傳閻立本之作,拖尾記語,間有舛誤,疑為後人所添。 &*Yen Li-pen was a court painter during the reign of Emperor T'ai-tsung who was commissioned to paint the portraits of such figures as foreigners, tribute-bearers, and the meritorious officials of the Ling-yen Hall. In 668, he was made Minister of the Right. In addition to calligraphy, he was good at painting figures, carriages, and buildings, earning the accolades "Master of Ink and Color" and "Painter Unparalleled Through the Ages." He has come to be known for his distinctive portraits. After T'ai-tsung founded the Hall of Literary Accomplishments, he appointed eighteen scholars as Academicians, including Tu Ju-hui, Fang Hsüan-ling and Yü Chih-ning. Yen Li-pen was ordered to paint their portraits and Chu Liang the inscriptions. As their fame and respect spread, the group was known by contemporaries as the "Isles of the Immortals." This painting of the Eighteen Scholars has inscriptions by Yü Chih-ning. This work is traditionally attributed to Yen, but errors in the postscript suggest it is a later interpolation.