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Sparrows and Bamboo
painter Shiken Saidō (Japanese, 1486–1581)
calligraphy by Ekkei Reikaku (Japanese, d. 1609)
mid- to late 1500s
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Mounted: 115 x 51.6 cm (45 1/4 x 20 5/16 in.)
- Culture
- Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Art
- Credit line
- Gift from the Collection of George Gund III
- 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
Shiken Saidō, whose style name was Ze'an, was a Zen monk who trained at Shōkokuji temple in Kyoto, and designed the garden of Reiun’in at Myōshinji temple. He painted landscapes in the style of painter and art advisor to the shogun, Sōami (died 1525), as well as bird-and-flower compositions. A poetic inscription by the monk Ekkei Reikaku accompanies this gentle composition of two sparrows perched on bamboo.
