Two eagles. Artist: Bada Shanren (Zhu Da) (Chinese, 1626-1705). Culture: China. Dimensions: Image: 73 3/4 x 35 1/2 in. (187.3 x 90.2 cm)Overall with mounting: 122 3/4 x 42 1/2 in. (311.8 x 108 cm)Overall with knobs: 122 3/4 x 46 1/2 in. (311.8 x 118.1 cm). Date: dated 1702.After decades spent concealing his identity as a descendant of the Ming royal house, Bada Sharen, at the age of seventy-six, seems in this forceful depiction of eagles to be declaring his proud defiance of Manchu Qing rule. There is no immediate precedent for such imagery; instead, the painting harks back to the powerful representations of eagles and hawks created by the early Ming court artist Lin Liang (ca. 1416-1480). Lin's heroic birds are emblems of strength and courage suitable for presentation to military officials. Bada, a fervent Ming loyalist, has personalized this imagery, transforming the conventional symbolism into an expression of brave confrontation and unfaltering loyalty, his noble birds standing