A Lion Training a Cub
- Date:
- c. 1832/34
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; otanzaku
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
A lion carries a cub in this small otanzaku-format print from the early 1830s. The subject draws on a Chinese artistic and literary tradition in which the lion (shishi) tests its offspring by dropping them into a valley — only the strongest cubs climb back up and are raised. Hiroshige's treatment is compact and direct, the two animals filling the narrow vertical format.
More Prints by Utagawa Hiroshige
More Animals Prints
Snake Charmers (Hebizukai)
Hebizukai
1932
Color woodblock print; oban
Hoshifuri Pine at Zen'yoji Temple in Edogawa (Edogawa-ku Zen'yoji Hoshifuri matsu), from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)"
1935
Color woodblock print; oban
Drawing for Rabbit and Boy
1964
Acrylic paint and oil pastel with oiled charcoal and ink over an ink and graphite underdrawing on paper
Rabbit and Boy
1964
Color lithograph with relief block and hand coloring; edition 35/36
Frequently Asked Questions
A Lion Training a Cub was created by Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) in c. 1832/34.
A Lion Training a Cub depicts animals.