Free to Use and Reuse: Dragons
Here there be Dragons! You'll find friendly as well as threatening dragons—some with wings and some as serpents. The dragons appear as heroes or villains in book illustrations; mythical figures in dramatic carved shapes; and symbols in posters and cartoons. The original items date from more than 2,000 years ago to recent times. Unless otherwise noted, the selected images are from the Prints & Photographs Division.
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De re militari. Italy, around 1460 (Rare Book & Special Collections Division) -
Nori, a benevolent dragon at the Providence Children's Museum in Rhode Island. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2018 -
Dragon's Wishbone. Federal Theatre program cover, 1939 (Music Division) -
Dragon materializing out of a cloud of smoke. Japanese woodcut by Tsurana Morizumi, 1870-1920 -
Poster advertisement for The Bookman magazine. 1896 -
A friendly blow-up dragon at a town fair in Pontotoc, Mississippi. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2016 -
Siegfried bathes in the dragon's blood. Film still for the motion picture Die Nibelungen: Siegfried, 1924 -
Dragon-headed bracelet with jewels, Sikkim. Photo by Alice S. Kandell, 1968 -
Constance Hall in St. Geo. and Dragon, Bryn Mawr. Photo by Bain News Service, 1910-1915 -
Golden Dragon Golf, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Photo by John Margolies,1985 -
St. Michael fighting the dragon. Woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, around 1511 -
Fuji morigoe no ryū. Japanese woodcut, 1890-1920 -
An elaborate, dragon-themed mailbox outside a home in East Haven, Vermont. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2017 -
Cast iron fence railing, 1000 North Dearborn Street, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Photo by Joseph Hill, 1936 -
The Dragon of Wantley: His Tale. Book cover by John Stewardson, 1890-99 -
Dragon light fixture in the Death Valley Ranch, Main House, Death Valley Junction, California. Photo by Jack Boucher, 1987-1989 -
Dragon, Magic Carpet Golf, Key West, Florida. Photo by John Margolies,1985 -
The air-serpent. Illustration by Frank A. Nankivell for Puck, 1909 July 14 -
Draco and Ursa minor. Illustration by Sidney Hall in Urania's mirror, 1825 -
Chas. H. Yale's fantastic spectacle, The Evil Eye. Theatrical poster by Sidney R. Allen, 1900 -
Stained glass window with Dragon. Design drawing by J. & R. Lamb Studios, early 1900s -
Sea serpents fill the Map of the Sea. By Olaus Magnus, published in Rome in 1572. (Geography & Map Division) -
Sailor from HURON in Peking. Photo by Bain News Service,1924 -
Viking ship, Lincoln Park, Chicago. Stereo photo by Keystone View Co., 1930 -
The "Moongate" at the Riverside International Friendship Gardens, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2016 -
Saint George and the Dragon. Illustration by Martha Bryn in the Votes For Women Broadside. Broadside. Published by the Women's Political Union, 1911 (Rare Book & Special Collections Division) -
Serpent head, Jockey's Ridge Mini-Golf, Nags Head, North Carolina. Photo by John Margolies,1985 -
Ryū shōten. Japanese woodcut by Gekkō Ogata, 1897 -
Travel views of Japan and Korea. Photo by Arnold Genthe, 1908 -
Trademark registration by Bell, Conrad & Co. for First Steamer Red Dragon Chop brand Japan Tea. 1887 -
Tojin ja-odori no zu. Japanese woodcut, 1850-1900 -
Sea Serpent #3, Seattle, Washington. Photo of a driftwood sculpture, 1906 -
Stone serpent handle. Sculpture from the Cotzumalhuapa civilization. BCE 200-CE 200 (Geography and Map Division) -
Murals painted on a building on Dragones Street, in the Chinatown section of Havana, Cuba. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2010 -
Draconis Alarifigura ex Pareo. Illustration in Serpentum et draconum historiæ (Natural History of Serpents and Dragons) by Ulysses Aldrovandi. Bologna (Italy), 1640 (Rare Book & Special Collections Division) -
Heraldic dragon monument in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2018 -
"At last the emperor began to dream. He heard the awful voice, the voice of the Golden Dragon. ..." Frontispiece in the book Chop-Chin and the Golden Dragon, 1899 (General Collections)' -
Illustration by John R. Neill for the book The Prince and the Dragons, by Tudor Jenks, 1906 (General Collections) -
Frontispiece for the book The Dragon and Juggernaut of Speculation ... by James H. Howe, 1916 (General Collections) -
Their nightmare. Color illustration by Charles J. Taylor in Puck magazine, 1895 -
Dragon head carvings above the Tsuklakhang Main Temple (Palace Temple) door, Gangtok, Sikkim. Photo by Alice S. Kandell, 1965-1979 -
The Chinese Dragon. Illustration in the Eureka Sentinel, Nov. 16, 1912. See: Chronicling America -
Production still photo from Dragon Snee Zee, a marionette show made for the Federal Theatre Project, around 1935 (Music Division) -
"They thought I was one of those fire belching dragons." Drawing by Daniel B. Carter. Illustration for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain, 1889