Morning Sun over Heavenly Citadel Peak, by Ding Yunpeng, 1614
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Morning Sun over Heavenly Citadel Peak

Ding Yunpeng (Chinese, 1547-c. 1628)

1614

Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
Classification
Painting
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.)
Culture
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
Credit line
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
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 Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

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.