Phoenixes and Paulownia
Tosa Mitsuyoshi (attributed)
The immense heraldic birds on display in these byøbu reflect the Momoyama era's spirit of newly gained self-confidence and an affinity for grand expressive statements in painting, architecture, the textile and ceramic arts, as well as garden design. While that period preceded the arrival of prosperity, it clearly marked an extra---ordinary moment in Japanese cultural history, one frequently compared with the twelfth century of the Heian period. Through the extensive use of gold-foil backgrounds rather than the somber palette of carefully orchestrated ink tones evident in Muromachi byøbu, patrons colla-borated with artists as well as craftsmen in fostering a decidedly new look in much of Japanese painting. Here for instance there is no imaginary vista suggesting China's vast waterways and mountain ranges. The setting is composed instead of highly stylized lozenges of mineral green paint, suggesting the earth from which clumps of grass, flowering plants, and towering bamboo and paulownia trees emerge. Clusters of lumpy, blue-green rocks dotted with lichen provide stabilizing three-dimensional foils for these islands of vegetation as well as the all-encompassing flat, golden surface. The glorious artificiality of the setting precisely serves the artist's effort to compose a credible yet other-worldly vista for depicting the legendary phoenix gazing across the landscape at the pair of peacocks. Rather than an emblem of immortality, as it is in Western lore, in Japan the phoenix evolved out of its origins in Chinese mythology to become, by the sixteenth century, an auspicious symbol of political authority. Together with clusters of the distinctively shaped paulownia leaves, this long-tailed, mythical bird graced lacquerware as well as mural paintings, proclaiming an air of graceful com-mand. A characteristic infusion of temporality has been included also, through a seasonal flowering schema extending from spring to early summer (right) to fall and the advent of winter (left). Although traditionally attributed to the Tosa school master Tosa Mitsuyoshi (1539-1613), these byøbu possess neither seals nor signatures to confirm that authorship. Known for his jewel-like, modest-sized album paintings of courtly narratives such as The Tale of Genji, it is likely both studio training and contemporary fashions in patronage conspired to produce a good number of such byøbu. This example from the Momoyama era represents one such effort from a masterful Tosa painter, too little seen in Western collections.
Colors in this work
Details
- Date
- late 1500s
- Dimensions
- image: height 1.605 m, width 3.62 m
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
-
Select a color to find related artworks.
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
12 tags
Subject Matter
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Animals Both · 99%
A cluster of monumental birds and smaller birds is visible; the catalog identifies the principal imagery as a phoenix and two peacocks.
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Mythology and Religion Metadata · 90%
The catalog identifies the phoenix as a legendary bird derived from Chinese mythology and discusses its auspicious associations in Japan.
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Flora Both · 99%
Trees, bamboo, flowering plants, grasses, and other vegetation occupy both sides of the screen, matching the catalog’s description of paulownia, bamboo, and seasonal plants.
Visual Qualities
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Highly Ornamented Visual · 97%
The gilded ground, patterned plumage, stylized rocks, dense foliage, and ornamental borders create a richly embellished decorative surface.
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Flatness Both · 95%
The gold ground and simplified arrangement of rocks and vegetation establish shallow spatial recession rather than a continuous deep landscape; the catalog explicitly describes an encompassing flat golden surface.
Medium and Techniques
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Painting Metadata · 99%
The Cleveland Museum of Art classifies the work as a painting and describes it as ink, color, and gold on a screen.
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Screen Format Both · 99%
The image is visibly divided into six vertical panels, and the catalog identifies it as one of a pair of six-panel screens.
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Large-Scale Painting Both · 96%
The catalog describes the work as one of a pair of six-panel screens with an image measuring 1.605 by 3.62 meters; the image presents a broad monumental pictorial surface.
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Gold Leaf and Gilding Both · 99%
The catalog specifies gold on gilded paper and gold-foil backgrounds, while the image visibly shows a luminous gold ground across most of the screen.
Time Periods
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16th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the work to 1580–1599, or the late sixteenth century, and places it in the Momoyama period.
Geographic Regions
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Japanese Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog identifies the place of origin as Japan and classifies the work within Japanese Art.
Materials
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Use of Paper Metadata · 98%
The catalog identifies paper as the support and describes the surface as gilded paper.
Source & rights
Tosa Mitsuyoshi (Japanese, 1539–1613). Phoenixes and Paulownia. Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 13,877 × 6,468 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available