Artwork Page for Eagles

Details / Information for Eagles

Eagles

雙鷹圖

1368–1644

China, Ming dynasty

(1368–1644)
Medium
Ink and color on silk panel
Measurements
Painting: 167.2 x 98.4 cm (65 13/16 x 38 3/4 in.); Overall framed: 189.3 x 114.5 cm (74 1/2 x 45 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1915.710
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

Two eagles, painted in fine brushwork, perch on top of rocks surrounded by water, flowering camellia, and other vegetation, brushed in sweeping and broad strokes. Among birds, a favorite subject in Chinese painting, depictions of eagles can be traced back to at least the fourth century.

Due to dramatic sociopolitical changes during the foreign-ruled Yuan (1279–1368) and native Ming dynasties, an elaborate symbolic language of the eagle developed. It can represent a vicious attacker, a courageous hero, or an enlightened emperor. In this painting, the two eagles are depicted peacefully resting in a lofty position, perhaps an idealistic image for a wise emperor and empress.
A hanging scroll depicts a landscape in muted brown and tan tones. Two speckled birds are portrayed on a craggy rocky ledge; one gazes upward while the other rests behind. Arching from the right, flowering plum branches with white blossoms frame the scene. Waterfalls stream in the upper left and lower right, the composition punctuated by small red flowers and a red seal at top center.

Eagles

1368–1644

China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

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