Morning Sun over Heavenly Citadel Peak

Description

A birthday gift, this scroll by Ding Yunpeng from Anhui is among the earliest paintings of Mount Huang (Yellow Mountains), here depicting Heavenly Citadel Peak. The mountains are named after the legendary Yellow emperor who is said to have visited the place to look for the essence of immortality. Deep red strokes accentuate vegetation and allude to cinnabar, the alleged elixir of immortality.

Difficult to climb and access, Mount Huang in Anhui province did not become a destination for hikers nor a subject for artists before the late Ming dynasty, when steps were built. Today its towering peaks are a national site and tourist attraction.

Provenance

Chin Ch'uang-sheng; (Jean-Pierre Dubosc [1903–1988], Paris, France, and Lugano, Switzerland, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1965); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1965–)

Morning Sun over Heavenly Citadel Peak

Ding Yunpeng

1614

Accession Number

1965.28

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper

Dimensions

Painting: 212.7 x 55.4 cm (83 3/4 x 21 13/16 in.); Overall with knobs: 344.1 x 87.7 cm (135 1/2 x 34 1/2 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund