![[Russian soldier on horseback, carrying a sword in right hand, a spear in left hand, and a rifle mounted on his chest with a string extending from the trigger to his mouth] by Kobayashi Kiyochika — Japanese Woodblock print](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/loc/images/01009v.jpg)
[Russian soldier on horseback, carrying a sword in right hand, a spear in left hand, and a rifle mounted on his chest with a string extending from the trigger to his mouth]
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Library of Congress
- Image courtesy of
- Library of Congress
Description
A caricature print depicting a Russian cavalryman absurdly overloaded with weapons — sword, spear, rifle — with a string connecting the rifle's trigger to his mouth, suggesting he would fire by biting. The image satirizes Russian military overextension and incompetence through visual comedy: a soldier equipped for every contingency yet functional in none. The mounted figure, overarmed and self-entangled, contrasts implicitly with the efficient Japanese soldier as popularly imagined. Kiyochika employs the exaggerated physicality of caricature, a mode he deployed extensively in his war-print output, to transform military failure into popular entertainment.
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Frequently Asked Questions
[Russian soldier on horseback, carrying a sword in right hand, a spear in left hand, and a rifle mounted on his chest with a string extending from the trigger to his mouth] was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).
[Russian soldier on horseback, carrying a sword in right hand, a spear in left hand, and a rifle mounted on his chest with a string extending from the trigger to his mouth] depicts animals.