有《葛一龙像》、《王时敏像》、《黄道周像》等传世。

 曾鲸活动于浙江杭州、乌镇、宁波、余姚一带，侨居江苏南京，专门从事肖像画创作，并开创了“波臣派”，是画史上最为杰出的肖像画家之一。从其伟世作品来看，他结识了当时一批社会名流，如董其昌、陈继儒、黄道周、葛一龙，陈洪绶、黄宗羲等，这些无不得益于他出众的才华。

据张岱《陶庵梦忆》记载：明崇祯七年（1634年）十月，张岱与曾鲸在杭州西子湖苏堤附近定香桥不期而遇，当时尚有诸暨陈洪绶、东阳赵纯卿、金坛彭天锡、女伶陈素芝等人。兴会之余，陈洪绶为赵纯卿作古佛，曾鲸也为赵纯卿画肖像。

 曾鲸，字波臣，明末著名人物肖像画大家，福建莆田人，长期寄寓金陵（今江苏南京）。其绘画风格受西洋画的影响，注重墨骨。他的绘画风格风行一时，被世人称为“波臣派”，画风流传到日本等国。如此有名望的大画家，他的生卒年比较杂乱，成了一个未解之谜，这给人们鉴定明代曾鲸的作品的真伪问题造成了许多麻烦。曾鲸的各种生卒年如下：

（一）上海人民美术出版社出版的《中国美术家人名辞典》、吉林文史出版社出版的《明清画家印鉴》、文物出版社出版的《中国书画家印鉴款识》、中华书局出版的《莆田县志》、方志出版社出版的《莆田市志》、上海辞书出版社出版的《中国人名大词典·历史人物卷》、上海文化出版社出版的《国宝大观》、上海辞书出版社出版的《辞海》、总第十期的《福建文博》之《明清闽籍书画家省外流传作品散记》、福建人民出版社出版的《福建名人词典》等曾鲸的生卒年均作（1568~1650）。

（二）上海辞书出版社出版的《中国历史大辞典·明史卷》作（约1568~约1650年）。

（三）1994年9月4日《中国文物报》标题为《波臣派与日本黄蘖宗绘画》、《莆田历代书画选集》，2003年《故宫博物院院刊》第4期《曾鲸与“波臣派”的形成》均作（1564~1647年）。

（四）《艺林年鉴》作（1567~1649年）。

（五）海潮摄影艺术出版社出版的《闽台历代国画鉴赏》作（1564~1647年、一作1568~1650年、又作1567~1649年）。

（六）江苏教育出版社出版的《中华文物鉴赏·绘画》作（1564~1641年）。

总结以上各家所记，曾鲸的生卒年有以下几种不同的结论：（1564~1641）、（1564~1647）、（1567~1649）、（1568~1650）、（约1568~约1650）。古代年龄都是以虚岁算）。

可以看出曾鲸的生年有作1564、1567、1568、约1568。卒年有作1641、1647、1649、1650、约1650。按此算起来，生年的最大误差是5岁。卒年的最大误差是10岁。曾鲸的终年有三种：78岁、83岁、84年，终年最大误差是7岁。一个人的生卒年不可能有几种，正确的结论只有一种，到底以上几种生卒年，哪种是曾鲸的正确生卒年？谁也说不清。著名画家明代莆田人曾鲸的生卒年真的将成为中国文化史上的一个难解之谜吗？

明代著名画史专家、画家江苏丹阳人姜绍书著的绘画史传《无声诗史》记载：“曾鲸，字波臣，莆田人。流寓金陵，风神修整，仪观伟然，所至卜整以处，回廊曲室，位置潇洒磅礴。写照如镜取影，妙得神情，其傅色淹润，点睛生动……每图一像，烘染数十层，必匠心而后止。其独步艺林，倾动遐迩，非偶然也。年八十三终”。姜绍书与曾鲸同在江苏，是朋友。

以上（四）《艺林年鉴》作（1567~1649）虚岁是83岁，虽然与《无声诗史》所记的年龄相同，虚岁也是83岁。但《艺林年鉴》是孤证，它可信性的分量不够。

而以上（三）2003年《故宫博物院院刊》第4期的文章《曾鲸与“波臣派”的形成》，系权威期刊发表的研究论文，其中作（1564~1647）应该是正确的，可信的，终年也与《无声诗史》的记载完全相符。

曾鲸的成就在于对传统的肖像画法的继承和发展。

古法主要有两种：一是略用淡墨勾出五官之大意，而后全用粉彩渲染，如唐宋时期的代表作品《历代帝王图》、《韩熙载夜宴图》等。自宋·李公麟把白描大大发展以后，元明之际的画家又多采用白描的手法写像，如元代的著名肖像画家王绎的《杨竹西小像》（此图乃倪云林补景）。

曾鲸所开创的画法在于它先用淡墨线勾出轮廓和五官位置，然后注意墨骨，以淡墨和淡赭石按面部结构层层渲染出阴影凹凸，较之前代更具立体感。“每画一像，烘染数十层，必匠心而后止”（姜绍书《无声诗史》）。通过层层烘染使得画面上不着痕迹而浑然一体。 在他早年创作的《葛一龙像》图卷中，主人公倚书斜坐，头戴巾帽，身着长衫，密髯丰颊，两眼远视，一个容貌清峻、能诗、善画、工书的才子跃然纸上。画家仅在面部先用细线勾勒，再敷色晕染，更类白描之法。

在曾鲸的传世作品中，《王时敏小像》图轴颇为有名，此图乃曾鲸中年所作。先勾出清晰的墨线，再用淡色渲染。衣褶随笔而出，落笔遒劲流畅，点睛生动，神采如生。

但以上两幅作品中，曾鲸所特有的凹凸之法尚不明显。最能反映“波臣派”代表性风格的是曾鲸作于五十九岁的《张卿子像》图轴。被董其昌、陈继儒称为“奇才”的诗人兼名医张卿子乌巾朱履，左手捻须，意态安详。画像面部先用淡墨多层烘染，再行敷色，赭石中略掺铅粉，耳朵等部位则用较浓的赭色勾提，达到笔墨色浑然一体、形神兼备。

曾鲸不仅领悟到了古代肖像画传神的真谛，并且自创一家之法而开一代画风。后人评其画“落笔得其神理”（《明画录》）；“犹有宋人浑穆之意”（吴修）；“写照如镜中取影，妙得情神，一经传写，妍媸惟肖”（姜绍书《无声诗史》）；“下笔稍不俗，其写真，大二尺许，小至数寸，无不酷肖。挟技以游四方，累致千金”（《五杂俎》）。

曾鲸的肖像画法在当时颇为流行，一时间从学者甚众，影响也很大。据史记载，继承他的画法并留下姓名的就有四十余人，如：谢彬、金谷生、徐易、廖君可、刘祥生、沈尔调、张玉珂、陆永、顾宗汉、沈韶、张子游、徐璋、沈纪等，因曾鲸号“波臣”，遂把这支声势浩大的肖像画派称为“波臣派”，其中谢彬当数最得其师衣钵而造诣最高者。

谢彬从曾鲸学画，只施寥寥数笔，便神态毕现，眉目传神。他偶尔也画些山水，笔墨间颇有“元四家”之一的吴镇之笔意。其风格笔墨苍浑，设色沉郁，气象宏大。与项圣谟合作于清顺治九年（1652年）的《松涛散仙》图轴，是谢彬的代表作之一。图中谢彬绘项圣谟肖像，神态自若，风度翩翩。项圣谟则画三株黄山松及坡石竹木，细致严谨。

 Zeng Whale (1564 - 1647), Zibochen, Putian, Fujian Province, painter of Ming Dynasty in China. He spent his whole life in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, portraying people in a realistic way. Proficient in portrait painting, while inheriting the traditional techniques of pastel rendering, drawing on some techniques of Western painting, forming a unique painting method that pays attention to ink bone, layers of baking, strong three-dimensional sense. The portraits emphasize observation and experience, grasp the most moving points, and carefully depict them, especially focusing on eye-catching, vivid and lifelike images. They have the reputation of "like a mirror, like a life". From a large number of scholars, they formed the "Bochen School".

Zeng whale's success lies in the inheritance and development of traditional portrait painting.

There are mainly two kinds of ancient laws: one is to delineate the general idea of the five senses in light ink, and then to render them in pastel, such as the representative works of Tang and Song Dynasties, such as Emperor Tu of Successive Dynasties, Han Xizai Banquet Tu, etc. Since Song Li Gonglin's great development of white sketch, painters in Yuan and Ming Dynasties have mostly used the method of white sketch to depict images, such as the famous portrait painter Wang Yi's "Yang Zhuxi Portrait" (this picture is a supplementary view of Ni Yunlin).

Zeng Whale's method of painting is that it first outlines and five facial features with light ink lines, then pays attention to the ink bone, and renders the shadows concave and convex according to the facial structure layer by layer with light ink and ochre, which is more stereoscopic than previous generations. "Every portrait painted, dyed dozens of layers, will stop with ingenuity" (Jiang Shaoshu's History of Silent Poetry). Through layers of baking and dyeing, the picture is integrated without any trace. In the picture volume of Ge Yilong created in his early years, the protagonist sat reclining on a book, wearing a scarf and cap, a long gown, a thick beard and abundant cheeks, his eyes were far-sighted, and a brilliant scholar who was able to write poems, draw pictures and work books jumped onto the paper. Painters only use thin lines to outline the face, then apply color halo, more similar to the method of white sketch.

Among Zeng whale's handed down works, the axis of Wang Shimin's Portrait is quite famous. This picture was made by Zeng whale in his middle age. Draw a clear ink line and then render it in light color. The wrinkles come out in random strokes, the strokes are vigorous and smooth, the eyes are vivid and the spirit is vivid.

However, the concave-convex method unique to Zeng whale is not obvious in the above two works. The most representative style of the "Pochen School" is the axis of the fifty-nine-year-old Zhang Qingzi Portrait by Zeng Whale. Zhang Qingzi, a poet and doctor who was called "a genius" by Dong Qichang and Chen Jiru, twisted his left hand with a quiet mind. The face of the portrait is first dyed with light ink and multi-layer, then applied with color. The ochre is slightly mixed with lead powder, and the ears and other parts are outlined with strong ochre color, so as to achieve the unity of brush and ink and the combination of body and spirit.

Zeng whale not only comprehended the true meaning of ancient portrait painting, but also created a new style of painting by himself. Later generations commented on his paintings, such as "The Ming Picture Record", "Still has the meaning of the solemn and mute Song people" (Wu Xiu); "The portrait is like taking a picture in a mirror, wonderful and affectionate, once handed down, beautiful and beautiful" (Jiang Shaoshu's Silent Poetry History); "The next brushwork is not vulgar, its portrayal is a bit too large, two feet large, small to several inches, and it is not cool. With skill, you can travel all over the world, and you will get a lot of money"("Five Miscellaneous Figurines").

Zeng whale's portrait painting method was quite popular at that time, and it was popular among scholars for a time, and had a great influence. According to historical records, there are more than forty people who inherited his paintings and left their names, such as Xie Bin, Jin Gusheng, Xu Yi, Liao Junke, Liu Xiangsheng, Shener Diao, Zhang Yuke, Lu Yong, Gu Zonghan, Shenshao, Zhang Ziyou, Xu Zhang, Shen Ji and so on. Because of Zengquan's "Bochen", they called this magnificent School of portraits "Bochen School", among which Xie Bingdang was the most well-educated. He who attains the highest attainments.

Xie Bin learned painting from Zeng Whale. He only wrote a few strokes, and then he showed his face and eyebrows vividly. Occasionally, he also painted some landscapes. Wu Zhenzhi, one of the Four Families of Yuan Dynasty, had a good brushwork between his brush and ink. Its style is gray, dark and magnificent. One of Xie Bin's representative works is the axis of Songtao Sanxian, which was cooperated with Xiang Shengmo in the ninth year of Shunzhi Qing Dynasty (1652). In the picture, Xie Bin draws a portrait of Saint Moore, with a self-contained manner and elegant demeanor. Xiang Shengmo painted three Huangshan pine and carnation trees with meticulous and rigorous features.