# Squirrel on a Pine Branch

- By: Song Tian (Chinese, active 1300s)
- Date: 1500s
- Medium: hanging scroll, ink on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Overall: 119.7 x 66.4 cm (47 1/8 x 26 1/8 in.)
- Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Credit line: Gift from the Collection of George Gund III
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2015.498)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.498/2015.498_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This painting captures a squirrel in action, distracted and twisting its head while climbing and looking at a little bug to the right. The painter skillfully employs a combination of ink washes and fine brushstrokes to simulate the animal’s fur. Only three simple curved lines depict the squirrel’s claws.

The subject of squirrels did not appear in Chinese painting before the late Southern Song (1127–1279) and Yuan periods (1279–1368). The painter Songtian was one of the few Yuan painters who specialized in this theme.