Portrait of An Qi
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
259.7 × 80.1 cm · image: 122 × 53.6 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1971.17
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
An Qi, the subject of the portrait, was a second-generation salt merchant from Korea. He used part of his wealth to collect art. At the time this painting was commissioned, An was less than 40 years old. He is represented as a Daoist recluse in nature, informally dressed with attributes such as books and a wrapped guqin instrument, a portrait convention for literati-scholars since the Six Dynasties period (220–589 CE). The local Taihu rock, banana plants, and crane suggest a southern garden and ...