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Figure with Dragon and Phoenix

   February 17, 2021  Leave a Comment on Figure with Dragon and Phoenix
The Figure with a Dragon and Phoenix is a silk painting, (excavated in 1949 from the Tomb of Chu) drawn using traditional Chinese ink and brush style. The traditional style uses free and broad strokes, creating more of an outline to the figures, instead of having extensive detail. Due to this painting style, the animals, and figure look bold and vivid. The middle part of the painting shows a figure wearing a noblewoman’s long dress with wide flowing sleeves, and her hair is in a slick bun. Additionally, the noblewoman appears very still and statuesque, while the dragon and phoenix juxtapose that as they are intertwined, appearing to be flying with fluidity to their movements. The dragon and phoenix flying above her are in almost a yin and yang configuration symbolizing how they give power and balance to each other, possibly guiding the woman on some kind of a journey.

This painting has two other names: Silk Painting of Late Zhou Dynasty or Silk Painting of Beast, Phoenix, and Beauty. As it is in such good condition, the painting is seen as a “national treasure” to China. It is paired with the Silk Painting of a Man Riding a Dragon (linked below) as they are both Pre-Qin Dynasty. This painting itself is quite simple, however, it is surrounded by the unknown about its creation date and meaning/purpose.

Title: Figure with Dragon and Phoenix

Creator: Unknown

Date Created: Warring States Period (475-221B.C.)

Location: Historically Pre-Qin Dynasty, China

Type: Painting

Medium: Silk

Rights: Hunan Provincial Museum

Paired silk painting (Man Riding a Dragon/Figure Driving a Dragon): https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/figure-driving-a-dragon/SAFcDilMMbW6pA

References:

  1. https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/figure-with-dragon-and-phoenix-unknown/rwGuei3g7DFIkA
  2. https://www.hnmuseum.com/en/content/silk-painting-female-figure-dragon-and-phoenix-patterns
Author: Charlotte Becker

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