Sakata Kintoki Wrestling with a Tengu

The man depicted here is Kintoki, a hero from Japanese folklore famous for engaging supernatural beings in battle. His birth name was Kintarō, and he had legendary strength even while still a boy. Here he is shown wrestling with a tengu, a type of mythical birdman said to live on Mount Kurama, north of Kyoto. The hand coloring is primarily red (tan), derived from red lead, and green (roku), made from malachite, a scheme that was popular before multicolored printing was introduced. Despite the limited palette, the pigment was skillfully applied in a variety of saturations so that the thicker red could represent the tengu’s supernatural skin while the thinner red conveys Kintoki’s flushed face.