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Squirrel and Grapes
Shen Yongling (Chinese, 1614-1698)
Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 1694
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 84.7 × 30.6 cm (33 1/4 × 12 1/4 in.)
- Culture
- China
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Samuel M. Nickerson Endowment
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
In Chinese art, images of squirrels and grapes convey wishes for many children and enduring prosperity. Together, squirrels’ prolific breeding and grapes’ clustered growth symbolize limitless generations. Artist Shen Yongling was renowned for depicting this subject. Here, a plump yet agile squirrel balances on a twisting branch, gazing up at heavy grape clusters. Shen rendered the scene in the mogu (“boneless”) technique, softly layering ink washes rather than using lines to define forms.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
