Cleveland Museum of Art

Dragon

Soga Nichokuan

Date

early to mid-1600s

Medium

six-panel folding screen; ink, slight color, gold, and silver on paper

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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 ).

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.