Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573) to Momoyama period (1573–1615) / c. 1546–56
Dragon and Tiger
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Dragon and Tiger as painting (Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573) to Momoyama period (1573–1615) · c. 1546–56).
This pair of screens is considered the masterpiece of Sesson's body of work, and may have been created for the lord of Odawara in eastern Japan.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink on paper and credits Sesson Shūkei (Japanese, c. 1492–c. 1577).
The museum's collection notes: A tiger sits in a bamboo grove whipped with fierce wind, while a dragon claws through clouds above rough waves. Tiger and dragon are Chinese cosmological symbols of the balancing forces in the world, yin (the feminine aspect) and yang (the masculine aspect). The tiger's roar is also said to generate wind, and the dragon clouds. The screens may have originally been meant to express the fluctuating nature of the world as envisioned in the practice of military divination, or forecasting, based on the Yijing ( Book of Changes ).
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtDragon and TigerOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.