Poem-card from the Shinkokin wakashu (New Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times) with Design of Pine on a Beach
Medium
card mounted on a hanging scroll; gold, silver, and ink on paper
Dimensions
132.1 × 43.2 cm · painting only: 20 × 17.4 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1987.60
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
Tawaraya Sotatsu and Hon’ami Koetsu are both associated with the founding of the Rimpa school of Japanese painting. In this poem-card––one of 16 that survive––Tawaraya painted the gold and silver design, over which Hon’ami recorded poems from Shinkokin wakashu. The verses read from top to bottom and from right to left: "Even as I gaze, the thought of it is lonely. High in the heavens the moon-capital lies still in the sky of its dawning."