《二马图》卷，元，任仁发作，绢本，设色，纵28.8cm，横142.7cm。
元朝任仁发的《二马图》卷，是一幅有着明确讽刺内容的绘画作品，而且含义十分尖锐，下面试解释画面一二。
画面很简单，画幅前边是一匹壮实、膘肥肉厚的花马，昂首，踏着轻快的碎步，尾巴扬起飘动，显得自在得意。随在这匹马后边的则是一匹骨瘦如柴的马，条条肋骨清晰可见，它低着头，步履蹒跚，尾巴卷缩着，显出吃力疲惫之态。画家以极其写实的手段，采用勾勒的笔法，描画了马匹的轮廓，线条极富表现力，然后赋以色泽，颇具唐人画马的传统。
如果单纯从画面来看，画中描绘的只是两匹马，我们似乎不会感到这是一幅讽刺绘画，但是结合画幅后面作者自己的题记来看，其实它是对当时官场乃至社会的种种腐败黑暗提出了强烈的批评。只不过采用了隐喻、拟人的手法，曲折地表明了画家的态度和观点。这大概也是画家所处的时代决定的，因为像《二马图》这样的作品，当时除去作者本人以外，能看到的人可以说不会很多，这样的绘画活动仅仅只能算是个人行为，不会像现在的漫画作品能够发表于报刊上，影响面十分广大，变成了一种社会行为。
这幅并无任何其他背景和道具的《二马图》卷，看似简单，其实寓意深刻。内容的关键在于画幅后面画家任仁发自己题写的一段文字。他在跋语中先叙述了所画的肥、瘦二马：“肥者骨骼權奇，縈一索而立峻坡，雖有厭飫芻豆之榮，寧無羊腸踣蹶之患。瘠者皮毛剝落，齧枯草而立風霜，雖有終身擯斥之狀，而無晨馳夜秣之勞。”在写完对两匹马的评语后，作者笔锋一转，进一步议论道：“世之士大夫，廉濫不同，而肥瘠系焉。能瘠一身而肥一國，不失其爲廉；苟肥一己而瘠萬民，豈不貽淤濫之恥歟？”看了这段跋语，我们才恍然大悟，原来任仁发是借用两匹马来评论官场的得失利弊。他将画中的肥马比喻成为官不正的贪官，他们吸食民脂民膏，故而肥壮；又将画中的瘦马比喻为廉明勤政的清官，因为忙于政务而累得皮毛剥落，骨瘦如柴。然后作者表明了应当以前者为戒、以后者为榜样的态度。明白了任仁发画这肥、瘦二马的用意之后，再仔细观察，就会发现，作者在画中还安排了一个不大为人注意的细节，那匹肥马马首挽着笼头，但是缰绳却松开了，拖在地上，而瘦马不但有笼头，缰绳还套在马颈上。一匹是没有约束的脱缰之马，失去了控制，就会无法无天，鱼肉百姓而肥己。另一匹是有约束的拴着缰绳的马，有了管束才能尽心尽力，克勤克俭。在这里任仁发似乎又进一步阐述了自己对于官吏管理的看法，其用心可谓十分良苦。其深刻含义就是如果一个社会缺乏了某种监督和制约的机制，腐败就将滋生。
--------Introduction in English--------
"Erma Tu" Volume, Yuan, Ren Ren seizure, silk, color, vertical 28.8 cm, horizontal 142.7 cm.
Ren Renfa's Erma Tu volume of Yuan Dynasty is a painting with clear satirical content, and its meaning is very sharp. Now try to explain the picture 12.
The picture is very simple, in front of the picture is a strong, fat flower horse, head up, with a brisk step, tail fluttering, appears to be complacent. Behind the horse was a skinny horse with visible ribs. He lowered his head, hobbled, and curled his tail, showing exhaustion. The painter depicted the horse's outline by means of extremely realistic brushwork. The lines were very expressive, and then gave colour and lustre, which had the tradition of drawing horses in Tang Dynasty.
If only two horses were depicted in the picture, we would not feel that it was a satirical painting, but considering the author's own inscription behind the picture, it was actually a strong criticism of the corruption darkness of the official and even the society at that time. It just uses metaphor and personification to express the painter's attitude and viewpoint. This may also be determined by the times in which the painter lived, because works like Ermatu, except for the author himself, could not see many people at that time. Such painting activities can only be regarded as personal behavior, unlike today's cartoons, which can be published in newspapers and magazines, have a wide influence and become a social behavior.
This volume of Ermatu without any other background or props seems simple, but it has profound implications. The key to the content is a passage inscribed by Ren Renfa, the painter behind the painting. In his postscript, he first recounts the portrayal of fat and thin horses: "Fat people have strange skeletal rights, lingering on steep slopes, although they are tired of the glory of ruminant beans, they would rather not suffer from sheep's bowels. The barren peel off their fur, and the withered grass stand in the wind and frost. Although they have the form of life-long reprimand, they do not work hard in the morning or at night. After writing a comment on the two horses, the author turned his pen and further commented, "The world's men and doctors are different in their honesty and abuse, but they are fertile and barren. If we can fertilize a country with barrenness, we will be honest; if we can fertilize ourselves and barren all the people, will we not be ashamed of silting up? After reading this postscript, we suddenly realized that Ren Renfa had borrowed two horses to comment on the merits and demerits of officialdom. He likened the fat horse in the painting to a corrupt official who was unjust, who was fat because they absorbed people's fat and people's ointment, and the thin horse in the painting to a clean and honest and diligent official who was tired and skinned because he was busy with government affairs. Then the author points out that the former should be the precept and the latter should be the model. Having understood Ren Renfa's intention of drawing the fat and thin horse, after careful observation, we can see that the author also arranged a detail that was not noticed. The fat horse was holding the bridle, but the bridle was loosened and dragged to the ground. The thin horse not only had a bridle, but also had the bridle tied to the neck of the horse. If a horse is unconstrained and out of control, it will be lawless and fattening. The other is a restrained horse tied to the reins. Only with restraint can one try his best and be diligent and thrifty. Here Ren Renfa seems to further elaborate his views on the management of officials, whose intentions can be described as very painful. Its profound meaning is that if a society lacks some mechanism of supervision and restriction, corruption will breed.
