# Sparrows and Bamboo

- By: Shiken Saidō (Japanese, 1486–1581)
- By: Ekkei Reikaku (Japanese, d. 1609)
- Date: 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)
- Credit line: Gift from the Collection of George Gund III
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2015.457)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/2015.457/2015.457_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

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.