Sage with Tiger

16th century

Chinese black ink and heavily applied pigments on a coarsely woven fabric

41.9 × 1.6 cm (16.5 × 0.6 in)

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● On view now — Collection Gallery, Room 15, North Wall

Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia · verified July 2026

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FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

The aged, Taoist sage in the foreground has become so attuned to nature as to be intimate with a fierce tiger, whom he strokes. A young man—probably a disciple—approaches with a bowl of symbolic fruits: a persimmon (fecundity), a ling-chih mushroom (longevity), and the citrus fo-shou (good fortune). Likewise, the evergreen pine tree connotes endurance, and the bamboo flexibility. The stylized trees, clouds, and waterfall signal that this is a transcendent, rather than a "natural," landscape.

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