Decorative Objects
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Pavilion in a Beautiful Field (Shuyado) Japan Muromachi period (1392-1573), 15th century Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper Image only, H. 28 1/4 x W. 11 3/4 in. (71.8 x 29.8 cm) Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.210 |
Hanging scrolls have been the predominant way of displaying traditional East Asian painting and calligraphy in Japan for hundreds of years. A wide range of subject matter appears in this format including landscapes, as seen here. This painting is one of numerous poem-picture scrolls (shigajiku) produced in fifteenth-century Japan. Such works fuse images and words and were often composed at gatherings in Zen monasteries on occasions such as bidding farewell to a fellow monk. Above this landscape are two inscriptions added by Yoka Shinko (died 1437) and Kaifu Meitoku (died 1451). Both of the inscribers were monks associated with the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism and served as abbots of the Tõfukuji temple in Kyoto.
