Cleveland Museum of Art

Tigers and Leopard Frolicking

Date

1700s

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)

Department

Korean Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This monochrome composition depicts a tiger and her young playing at stalking one another in a stand of pine. Tigers, considered messengers of mountain spirits, and are often paired with leopards, mistakenly thought to be baby tigers. The signature written at the upper left of the painting reads "The mountain recluse of Honam," possibly referring to a painter from Jeolla province in Korea. Korean artists during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) often described leopards as baby tigers, explaining why in this painting tigers and leopards are shown together as a family.

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