Female portraits show a temperament of simplicity and elegance. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Or, they show scholars, often accompanied by young helpers, on excursions in the wild, surrounded by mountains, trees, streams and springs. This combination of the styles of portraiture and landscapes delivers a sense of serenity.

Visitors might also be able to spot the difference between Ming and Qing portraits at the exhibition, which is the adoption of figurative techniques by Qing painters after they were introduced to oil painting by visiting European missionaries.

Zhu Wanzhang says this kind of portrait shows physical accuracy and were well received in the market; people ordered commissioned portraits depicting their senior family members, and after they passed, the portraits were placed in ancestral halls at home for remembrance.

Liu says it's possible to see how the artists at the time embraced the new technique with interest, and experimented to combine it with the Chinese art traditions rooted in their DNA. While their attempts show immaturity in shaping and coloring, he notes, they are still arresting for their adventurous spirit.