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Sakata Kintoki Wrestling with a Tengu

A work made of hand-colored woodblock print; o-oban, tan-e.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of hand-colored woodblock print; o-oban, tan-e.

Date:

1715-18

Artist:

Torii Kiyomasu I (Japanese, active c. 1704–18)

About this artwork

The man depicted here is Kintoki, a hero from Japanese folklore famous for engaging supernatural beings in battle. His birth name was Kintarō, and he had legendary strength even while still a boy. Here he is shown wrestling with a tengu, a type of mythical birdman said to live on Mount Kurama, north of Kyoto. The hand coloring is primarily red (tan), derived from red lead, and green (roku), made from malachite, a scheme that was popular before multicolored printing was introduced. Despite the limited palette, the pigment was skillfully applied in a variety of saturations so that the thicker red could represent the tengu’s supernatural skin while the thinner red conveys Kintoki’s flushed face.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Torii Kiyomasu I

Title

Sakata Kintoki Wrestling with a Tengu

Place

Japan (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1710–1718

Medium

Hand-colored woodblock print; o-oban, tan-e

Dimensions

68.8 × 32.8 cm (26 3/4 × 13 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1925.1726

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/19137/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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