Landscape
16th century
Medium
Six-panel folding screen; ink on paper
Dimensions
66 in. × 11 ft. 8 1/4 in. (167.6 × 356.2 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Hope Skillman Schary, 1981
Accession Number
1982.244.16
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the serene world of Muromachi-period Japan with *Landscape*, a masterful six-panel folding screen by Zen monk-painter Sesson Shū, created in the 16th. Crafted in ink on paper, this expansive work (measuring 66 inches high by over 11 feet wide) unfolds a dramatic vista of towering mountains, misty valleys, and winding rivers—hallmarks of traditional Japanese suiboku-ga, or ink landscape painting. Folding screens like this byōbu were not mere decorations; they served as architectural elements in elite samurai residences and temples, dividing spaces while showcasing the owner's refined ...
About the Artist
Sesson Shūkei · 1500–1600
ca. 1504–ca. 1589