Peafowl and Phoenixes
Tosa Mitsuyoshi (Japanese, 1539–1613)
late 1500s
Medium
Pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, and gold on gilded paper
Dimensions
175.9 × 377.2 cm · painting only: 160.4 × 361.8 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1986.2
Tags
male
About this artwork
Phoenixes are fantastical birds said to inhabit paulownia trees and eat bamboo, and to celebrate virtuous rulers. Peafowl are birds that amuse themselves in the lake of the Buddha Amida’s Pure Land, a paradise where many once hoped to find themselves after death. Both birds appeared on Japanese textiles or paintings in the 1500s and 1600s, used in official ceremonies centered around emperors.