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Cicada on a Grapevine

Bokurin Guan

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image depicts a painting titled "Cicada on a Grapevine" by Bokurin Guan. The painting features a brown background resembling aged paper, with a black cicada hanging from a long grapevine stem with thin, curved branches. The cicada is drawn upside down from a thin stem; its body resembles an upside-down teardrop with two bent legs on either side. The painting has a blue border with a repeating tan floral pattern and a repeating gold pattern along the top and bottom. The bottom-right corner contains two stamps with Asian characters, and several illegible black signatures are scattered across the painting. The background on either side of the painting is solid black, with a small gray and white scale on the left.

Artwork Details

Date
late 14th–early 15th century
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Culture
Japan
Dimensions
468 × 624 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original
Palette