Birds and Flowers
Kano Mitsunobu (Japanese, 1565–1608)
and Kano Shōei (Japanese, 1519–1592)
late 1500s
- Medium
- Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Image: 155.5 x 340 cm (61 1/4 x 133 7/8 in.)
- Culture
- Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Art
- Credit line
- Gift of William G. Mather
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
The landscape depicted in this pair of screens follows a seasonal progression from right to left, starting with the blossoming plum of early spring and ending with late autumn peonies. A variety of smaller birds are positioned throughout the scene, and a trio of swimming ducks is bracketed by early summer irises and early autumn bellflowers at the center. While some raptors (birds of prey) terrorize a pheasant and an egret (a waterfowl) to the right, a peacock and peahen converse to the left. Hawks are associated with military prowess, while the peafowl suggest cultural prestige.
