Peafowl and Phoenixes
late 1500s
Tosa Mitsuyoshi
Tosa Mitsuyoshi (Japanese, 1539–1613)
Japanese Art
Peafowl and Phoenixes, late 1500s. Attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi (Japanese, 1539–1613). Pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, and gold on gilded paper; overall: 173.1 x 374.4 cm (68 1/8 x 147 3/8 in.); overall: 175.9 x 377.2 cm (69 1/4 x 148 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1986.2 Phoenixes are fantastical birds said to inhabit paulownia trees and eat bamboo, and to celebrate virtuous rulers. Peafowl are birds that amuse themselves in the lake of the Buddha Amida’s Pure Land, a paradise where many once hoped to find themselves after death. Both birds appeared on Japanese textiles or paintings in the 1500s and 1600s, used in official ceremonies centered around emperors. Members of the Tosa studio of painters once served as heads of the imperial painting bureau.
- Maker/Artist
- Tosa Mitsuyoshi
- Classification
- Painting
- Formatted Medium
- Pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, and gold on gilded paper
- Dimensions
- Overall: 173.1 x 374.4 cm (68 1/8 x 147 3/8 in.); Overall: 175.9 x 377.2 cm (69 1/4 x 148 1/2 in.)
- Departments
- Japanese Art
- Accession Number
- 1986.2
- Credit Line
- Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Exhibitions
- Year in Review for 1986, Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen, Autumn Grasses: Arts of the Momoyama Period (1573-1615), The Triumph of Japanese Style: 16th Century Art in Japan, Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - January-July 2017, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121); July 13 - November 10, 2004.
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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