Miracle of the Dragon (1600s): Art, History and Details

Miracle of the Dragon (1600s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Buddhist disciples are grouped around a dragon in the lower right part of the scroll. The figures' varying levels of composure at the miraculous appearance of the dragon indicates how far removed each figure is from worldly affairs. The lay people's body language expresses their surprise. In contrast, the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, in the upper right has been seated in meditation for such a long time that birds have begun assembling twigs for a nest atop his head. His eyes remain closed, and his body still, unmoved by either the sudden materialization of the dragon or the proximity of the monkey, deer, and birds. Dragons have been part of Buddhist culture since antiquity; in Chinese Buddhism the dragon is often interpreted as a symbol of enlightenment.

Object facts

• Title: Miracle of the Dragon
• Date: 1600s
• Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
• Dimensions: Image: 109.2 x 58.5 cm (43 x 23 1/16 in.); Overall: 205.4 x 76.4 cm (80 7/8 x 30 1/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1991.9

A detail from the museum

The generous application of brilliant mineral pigments is still evident throughout this painting.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. “Selected 1991 Acquisitions.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 2 (February 1992): 63–83.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.