Can you identify the name of this painting or the artist?

Question

It is a man, hanging on to a rope from a precipce. Above him are wild beasts waiting to devour him, while below him is a dragon waiting to catch him if he should fall. Above him on the rope is a white rat, representing day, and a black rat, representing night, gnawing on the rope. I saw it years ago in a textbook but can't recall it's title, or the artist.

I know it's from Rashamon. I did the part. I saw the painting in a World History Book in College but cannot name it or the artist.

Answer 1

You are making reference to Rashomon, a play written by Fay and Michael Kanin. It has the description of such a painting in it's dialogue (exactly).

Maybe the textbook was for a theatre class, or a playscript that had a few illustrations.

Go to the following site, and then do a "find on this page" search for the word "brokenly".

http://pimoebius.com/rashomon.htm

Hope this helps.