世界上历史画的起源地之一是古埃及与罗马,在中国有文字记载的历史画首次出现在《孔子家语·观周》一书中。记录历史是历史画最重要的功能之一。在中国传统文化体系中,历史画在质量和数量上较之西方远远无法相比。历史画被引入中国美术传统后,其题材意义与学术的本体意义无法与“梅兰竹菊”四大题材相比拟,在美学上没有受到应有的重视与相对独立的地位。要研究历史画就必须从宗教、政治、艺术理论与艺术家四个角度进行相关的探讨。 One of the origins of historical paintings in the world is ancient Egypt and Rome. The historical paintings with written records in China first appeared in the book “Confucianism and Taoism”. History is one of the most important functions of historical painting. In the traditional Chinese cultural system, historical paintings are far from comparable in quality and quantity to the West. After the historical paintings were introduced into the Chinese art tradition, the significance of the subject matter and academic sense of the subject can not be compared with the four major themes of “Mei Lan Zhu Ju ”, and they have not been properly valued and relatively independent in aesthetics. To study the historical paintings, we must carry on the relevant discussions from the four angles of religion, politics, art theory and artists.