Wowa tian ma, cang mi jin tong: Yuan dai hua jia Ren Renfa yu "Wowa tian ma tu" yan jiu = Wowa Pegasus, secret of golden eye : a study of "Wowa Pegasus picture" and the painting of horses in the Yuan dynasty

Abstract

This study examines an ancient Chinese painting that emerged in Europe, attributed to the Yuan dynasty master Ren Renfa and titled 'Wowa tian ma tu'. The research involves scientific testing of the painting and conducts a comparative analysis of the history of Chinese horse and human painting from the pre-Qin dynasty to modern times to determine the work's stylistic characteristics and qualities. It uses Erwin Panofsky’s iconological method to analyse ancient Chinese narrative paintings by integrating both document and image deconstruction. It also offers an exploration of the history of the Ren Renfa family and their surviving works, revealing how the social changes and cultural innovations of the Yuan dynasty shaped their unique aesthetic pursuits and insights into horse painting, which are further evidenced through image comparisons. Ultimately, the study identifies and authenticates this painting as a work by Ren Renfa, while also providing a methodological framework for future research on ancient paintings.