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Susanoo no Mikoto and the Dragon, Dragon from the series The Twelve Animals of the Zodiac Matched with Brave Warriors

Susanoo no Mikoto and the Dragon, Dragon from the series The Twelve Animals of the Zodiac Matched with Brave Warriors

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Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Susanoo no Mikoto, the god of storms and sea from Japanese mythology, is paired here with the dragon of the Chinese zodiac. The god’s parents are Izanami and Izanagi, creators of earth, and his sister is the sun goddess. In this scene he is about to answer the pleas of an elderly couple to kill a dragon that threatened their daughter. Wearing Chinese-derived court robes, he looks over a cliff to the water where the dragon swims. After killing it, Susanoo extracted from the slain beast’s tail a magical sword that became one of three treasures in Japan’s imperial regalia (the other two are a mirror and a jewel). Kuniyoshi conveys Susanoo’s dominion over storms and sea with the inclusion of rhythmic wave patterns and the flame rising from the tip of his sword, which symbolizes his mythical powers.
Artist
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
(Japanese, 1798 - 1861)
Title
Susanoo no Mikoto and the Dragon, Dragon from the series The Twelve Animals of the Zodiac Matched with Brave Warriors
Date
ca. 1840
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
373 x 123 mm Overall
Credit
Bequest of John H. Van Vleck
Accession No.
1980.2663
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

29 April 1927, purchased from the Walpole Galleries (New York, NY) by Anna Van Vleck; 1927, gifted by Anna to her brother, Edward Burr Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 1943, passed through inheritance to Edward’s son, John H. Van Vleck (Cambridge, MA); 9 January 1980, bequeathed by John H. Van Vleck to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 130, no. 104

  • Gifts of the Ebb Tide: The Sea in Japanese Prints: Chazen Museum of Art, 6/8/2013–9/1/2013
  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 : Chazen Museum of Art, 3/21/2008–6/15/2008

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