Watanabe Kazan (1793-1841)

Portrait of Liu Bei (Ryubi Gentoku)

Details

Watanabe Kazan (1793-1841)
Portrait of Liu Bei (Ryubi Gentoku)
Signed Kazan and sealed Noboru
Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper
36 x 12in. (91.5 x 30.5cm.)

Exhibited

Homma Museum, Sakata City, "Kaiin suisho kobijutsu ten" (Exhibition of antiques recommended by museum members), 1964.9.15-27

PUBLISHED:
Yoshizawa Tadashi, "Watanabe Kazan hitsu Ryubi zo" (Portrait of Liu Bei by Watanabe Kazan), Kokka 867 (June 1964): pl. 7.

Lot Essay

Liu Bei (161-223) was a powerful warlord and the founding emperor of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. In the 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei was portrayed as a virtuous and charismatic man who rose from a humble straw weaver to emperor. He was praised for loyalty and compassion, Confucian moral values. Liu Bei became a popular figure in Chinese opera and folklore.

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