Dragon and Tiger — Sesson Shūkei (Japanese, c. 1492–c. 1577) — The Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · CC0. Museum object record ↗

Painting study · Ink painting

Dragon and Tigerc. 1546–56 · Study 1959.136.1

Sesson Shūkei (Japanese, c. 1492–c. 1577)
c. 1546–56

Recorded as One of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink on paper, this horizontal work measures 339 × 157.3 cm using the museum’s painting dimensions. Explore the museum’s context and compare the format with a wall of your choice.

Explore its scale ↓Shop Lei-Kol paintings

Museum collection reference. This work is not offered for sale by Physical Art For Crypto. Museum attribution does not imply a partnership or endorsement.

Context from the museum

In Chinese cosmology, dragons produce rain clouds. The dragon disappearing into and reemerging from clouds in this painting seems to generate rough waves in the water below, pulling it toward the sky. The shape of the foreground wave is indirectly sampled from a painting by 13th-century Chinese painter Yujian, a handscroll once owned by the Ashikaga military rulers of Japan. Sesson must have known the famous painting though copies, and made a copy of his own. Here, the wave reinforces the powerful quality of the dragon.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

Sesson's dragon, winding in and out of clouds, may have taken inspiration from Chinese Ming-dynasty works in the style of 13th-century Chinese painter Chen Rong.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting measurement for Dragon and Tiger is 339 cm wide and 157.3 cm high, equivalent to approximately 133.5 × 61.9 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 2.16:1. The rectangular bounding area is 5.33 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 113.0% of the span before adding a frame. That exceeds the example wall width, so a smaller reference wall would not reproduce the recorded scale. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Dragon and Tiger in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, One of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

Which part of this horizontal composition catches your eye first?
Would a 339 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?

Explore physical scale

How large would this format feel on your wall?

Use this museum work’s recorded format as a reference. Adjust a blank wall and optional frame allowance to compare proportions. The museum painting is an educational reference and is not for sale here.

Units

Wall width (cm)

Wall height (cm)

Frame each side (cm)

113.0%of wall width, including allowance

339.0 × 157.3 cmmodeled outside dimensions

Exceeds the entered wall dimensionsThe painting extends beyond the pale wall rectangle.

Calculation: outside width = recorded width + twice your frame allowance. This is a proportion study, not an installation assessment. It excludes furniture, hardware, load capacity, depth and delivery clearance. The display image may include margins absent from the recorded measurement.

Compare formats with the studio collection

These Lei-Kol works have the closest width-to-height ratios in the current catalog. This is a geometry comparison, not a claim of artistic similarity, equivalent value, or association with the museum artist.