Morning Sun over Heavenly Citadel Peak
1614
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1614
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a tall mountain peak wrapped in mist, with tiny temples clinging to the cliffs and pine trees twisting from the rocks. This is one of the first paintings of Mount Huang, a place so steep and remote that few artists had seen it. The red brushstrokes aren’t just leaves—they hint at cinnabar, a mineral thought to grant eternal life. To see how later artists painted the same mountain, look up *subject: china, ming dynasty (1368–1644)*.
