Painting Scroll
Michael (Admin) | Mar 14, 2009 Entertainment
Just when you thought every iPhone app developer on the planet was hell-bent on winning the contest to see who can make the stupidest app, along comes a piece of work whose only goal is to show you something beautiful and educate you in the process.
Painting Scroll by Colorme Info Tech is a guided tour of “Along the River During the Qingming Festival”, a 900 year old panoramic painting from China’s Song Dynasty. It comes complete with a relaxing soundtrack of traditional Chinese music and subtitled narration of what the painting depicts as it slowly scrolls from beginning to end. The entire ride lasts about 5 minutes, and during that time you get an interesting glimpse of how Chinese people rolled in the 11th century.
Even though you may have never heard of this painting it’s a pretty big deal in China and, according to the Wikipedia entry, it even has a nickname:
As an artistic creation, the piece has been revered and court artists of subsequent dynasties have made several re-interpretive replicas. The painting is famous because of its geometrically accurate images of boats, bridges, shops, and scenery. Because of its fame, it has been called “China’s Mona Lisa”.
At any given time during the scrolling tour you can tap on the painting and get a closeup view of the scene which is a really nice feature. You can also drag the scroll left and right as a kind of way to rewind or fast-forward, and there’s also a separate “story” screen that discusses the painting’s theme and history, but that’s where the features end which I guess is fine. Maybe it would have been nice to see the Wikipedia entry directly in the app, but when it comes to art history lessons I generally don’t expect much in the features department.
Painting Scroll is a nice app and I think even DaVinci would have to admit that “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” is an impressive piece of artwork. However, given the limited “replay” value of the app, I’m guessing the only people who will want to pony up $2 for it are probably art history nerds, those who are determined to appreciate all things artistic, or those who are actually Chinese and truly understand the significance of China’s Mona Lisa.
- Laid out in real life, this painting is 17 feet (528 cm) long! Take that, DaVinci
- It might help to check out the Story screen before beginning your guided tour
- An early scene in the scroll
- Zoomed in view
- Wow, awesome bridge guys
- Look at the little dudes rowing that bigass boat
- This looks like the rich neighborhood
- No traffic, no pollution, no problem
- Tapping on “more” takes you to the developer’s website
March 14th, 2009 at 2:20 am
Colorme Info Tech has been nice enough to provide some promo codes to hand out! First come, first served:
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If you use one, please leave a comment so that everyone knows it’s gone. Your thoughts on the app (after you try it) are also welcome. Enjoy! :cool:
(You must have a U.S. iTunes account to use promo codes)
March 14th, 2009 at 3:38 am
I grabbed the first one…I enjoy Chinese history & culture, why not? Looks interesting, but I don’t see many folks buying this for $2. Thanks!
March 14th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Yeah it’s kind of a “niche” app… anyway, hope you like it! I’m sure the developer would love to know your thoughts on it after you tour the painting.
March 14th, 2009 at 4:34 am
I took the third one (the second had already gone). Thanks!
March 14th, 2009 at 6:34 am
yesss i toke the 4 thanks!
March 15th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
look pretty,hava a see
March 15th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Look like a interesting app! I am interested in chinese culture.thanks!
March 15th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Really beautiful!