Flowers and Grasses of the Four Seasons

Flowers and Grasses of the Four Seasons

Kano Mitsunobu 狩野光信

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this lyrical variation of the common theme of Flowers and Birds of the Four Seasons, delicately rendered insects such as dragonflies, butterflies, and praying mantises hover among kerria roses, peonies, chrysanthemums, bush clover, and snow-dusted lantern flowers. Scallop-edged golden clouds and the graceful arcs of eulalia grasses form repeating, rhythmic patterns. The treatment of pictorial elements is consistent with the gentle, elegant painting style of Kano Mitsunobu, whose works graced a number of Kyoto palaces and temples. Parallels can also be drawn to lacquer decoration at the mausoleum of warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto’s Kōdaiji Temple. The lacquered and maki-e–decorated panels, associated with the Kōami school of Kyoto lacquer artisans, display repeating autumn grasses resembling motifs in Mitsunobu’s paintings and this pair of screens.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Flowers and Grasses of the Four SeasonsFlowers and Grasses of the Four SeasonsFlowers and Grasses of the Four SeasonsFlowers and Grasses of the Four SeasonsFlowers and Grasses of the Four Seasons

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.