| This kozuka depicts Garyo Tensei, a subject derived from the story of Zhang Sengyou, a painter of China’s Northern and Southern Dynasties period. According to the story, when Zhang Sengyou painted dragons, he deliberately left their eyes unfinished, saying that if he painted the eyes, the dragons would fly away. At the request of others, he finally painted in the eyes, whereupon the dragons immediately came to life and flew up into the sky.On a shakudo nanako ground, the painter at work and a dragon flying among clouds are depicted in takabori and iroe. The painter faces his painting, while the dragon appears to have emerged from it, soaring through the clouds. The moment when the painted dragon comes to life and escapes into the real world is skillfully captured on the small surface of the kozuka, creating an imaginative and engaging composition. Today, the expression Garyo Tensei means “the final important touch that brings something to completion.” This kozuka skillfully depicts the original scene from which the expression derives. |
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