Irises
Medium
pair of six-panel folding screens, ink and color on gilded paper
Dimensions
painting (each): 154.4 × 360.4 cm · mounted (each): 170.7 × 376.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of The Norweb Foundation
Accession Number
1954.603
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
The subject of this painting comes from a 10th-century text. It tells of a young nobleman’s journey into the lonely countryside, far from the capital city of Heian-kyō (Kyoto). There he came upon a small stream, the banks of which were covered with blooming irises, on which the artist has chosen to focus our attention. While viewing the beautiful flowers the nobleman composed a poem: I have a beloved wife, Familiar as the skirt of a well-worn robe, And so this distant journeying Fills my heart w...