Dragon
Soga Nichokuan (Japanese)
1600–1660
- Medium
- six-panel folding screen; ink, slight color, gold, and silver on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 158.1 x 304.8 cm (62 1/4 x 120 in.); Including mounting: 173.4 x 377.2 cm (68 1/4 x 148 1/2 in.)
- Genre
- painting
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
About
A dragon dives through clouds on this screen, while on the other screen, a tiger looks upon a waterfall as it prowls out of a bamboo grove. Tiger and dragon are traditional symbols of the balancing forces in the world, yin (the feminine aspect) and yang (the masculine aspect). This painting has a signature and seals, identifying it as a work by Soga Nichokuan, a painter thought to be from Sakai (near Osaka), and known primarily for his representations of hawk-eagles (kumataka).
