2787559
Peafowl and Pheonixes
Peafowl and Phoenixes
孔雀鳳凰図屏風
Artist and nationality: Tosa Mitsuyoshi (1539-1613), Japanese
土佐 光吉
Title: Peafowl and Phoenixes
孔雀鳳凰図屏風
date/range of work: late 1500s
period or dynasty : Momoyama period
country of origin: Japan
Materials: Two six-panel screens, ink, color, and gold on gilded paper.
173.1 x 374.4 cm
Location:not on view
This pair of golden screens, although not currently on display, are currently kept at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Created by Tosa Mitsuyoshi in the late 1500s of Japan, the screens show brilliantly vibrant colors of gold and green with traces of white, blue, brown, and red. The first is decorated with trees and stones among the clouds with two large phoenixes; creatures thought to be immortal and combust into flames at the edge of death, only to be reborn again as an infant chick, Phoenixes are mythological birds that symbolize rebirth and immortality. The second screen involves bamboo stalks and bushes with two peacocks orienting towards the left, as opposed to the phoenixes that lean towards the right side. Peacocks, although not a myth, are beautiful and regal enough to seem fictional. With stunning feathers of blues, greens, purples and more, these birds are not only the closest creatures we have to a real life phoenix, but they also represent beauty, wealth, and nobility.
If you would like to learn more about it, please visit the Cleveland Museum of Art in person (although this work is not on display at the moment, but you can certainly ask more about it or other works like it.), or virtually at www.clevelandart.org/art/1986.2
Peafowl and Pheonixes
Peafowl and Phoenixes
孔雀鳳凰図屏風
Artist and nationality: Tosa Mitsuyoshi (1539-1613), Japanese
土佐 光吉
Title: Peafowl and Phoenixes
孔雀鳳凰図屏風
date/range of work: late 1500s
period or dynasty : Momoyama period
country of origin: Japan
Materials: Two six-panel screens, ink, color, and gold on gilded paper.
173.1 x 374.4 cm
Location:not on view
This pair of golden screens, although not currently on display, are currently kept at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Created by Tosa Mitsuyoshi in the late 1500s of Japan, the screens show brilliantly vibrant colors of gold and green with traces of white, blue, brown, and red. The first is decorated with trees and stones among the clouds with two large phoenixes; creatures thought to be immortal and combust into flames at the edge of death, only to be reborn again as an infant chick, Phoenixes are mythological birds that symbolize rebirth and immortality. The second screen involves bamboo stalks and bushes with two peacocks orienting towards the left, as opposed to the phoenixes that lean towards the right side. Peacocks, although not a myth, are beautiful and regal enough to seem fictional. With stunning feathers of blues, greens, purples and more, these birds are not only the closest creatures we have to a real life phoenix, but they also represent beauty, wealth, and nobility.
If you would like to learn more about it, please visit the Cleveland Museum of Art in person (although this work is not on display at the moment, but you can certainly ask more about it or other works like it.), or virtually at www.clevelandart.org/art/1986.2