顾恺之

Asked why, he said that the spirit of a portrait lies in the eyes, which gave the phrase 点睛之笔 'the stroke that dots the eyes'. He ate sugarcane from the tip down to the sweeter root, saying he was going 渐入佳境, 'gradually into the good part'. Both stories are in 《晋书》.

history

The Admonitions Scroll in the British Museum, the best-known painting attributed to him, is thought to be a later copy. Figure painting matured before landscape in China, and he is treated as its first great master.