Chinese Literatus Traveling to a Mountain Temple

late 1500s

Kano Hidemasa 狩野秀政

(Japanese, active late 1500s)

Culture

Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)

Medium

hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper

Credit Line

Gift from the Collection of George Gund III 2015.480

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Location

Not on view

Description

This painting bears the seal of Kano Hidemasa, believed to be the son of Kano Hideyori (active mid- to late 1500s) of the important and prolific Kano family of painters. It features a traveler and his servant in a Chinese setting. The two are on their way to a temple up the stairs, climbing the steep slope of the mountain ahead of them. The traveler, who wears clerical garb, has paused to admire and listen to the sound of a nearby waterfall. The painting is a charming interpretation of a scene that might be found in Song dynasty album leaves imported to Japan.