South Ambulatory and King Sculpture Court
Visitors of all ages will enjoy the symbols, stories, and spectacle of dragons in a new installation of works from East Asia. Dragon-themed works in a diversity of mediums—from silk scroll paintings to carved ivory and porcelain jars—are on view. Most notably, Coiling Dragon, a large bronze that has been a perennial favorite of the AMAM’s Asian collection, has returned to the sculpture court. Dragons appear in East Asian folk tales, mythology, and all of the region’s major religious traditions. Unlike the fire-breathing, gold-hoarding, maiden-kidnapping variety in Western mythology, in East Asia the dragon is most often a positive symbol as harbinger of rain and controller of floods and storms. In imperial China, the dragon also served as the preeminent symbol of the emperor. Return of the Dragon highlights the enduring legacy of dragon imagery and symbolism in Asian art.
This exhibition was organized by Kevin R.E. Greenwood, the Joan L. Danforth Curator of Asian Art.
Image:
Japanese
Coiling Dragon, late 19th century
Bronze
Gift of Charles F. Olney,
1904.723A-C