↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · late 1790s
Cherry Blossoms in the Wind
Utagawa Toyokuni
Colour palette
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Approximate colour proportions
Estimated from six colour groups in the museum image, including visible paper or borders. Reproduction and lighting affect the result; these are image-area proportions, not pigment measurements.
Gift of Herbert F. Leisy in memory of his wife, Helen Stamp Leisy · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) · late 1400s–early 1500s
Listening to the Qin
- Date
- late 1400s–early 1500s
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink and light color on silk
- Dimensions
- Overall with knobs: 118 x 45 cm (46 7/16 x 17 11/16 in.); Painting: 35.8 x 29.1 cm (14 1/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
- Country / context
- China
- Movement / tradition
- Chinese painting
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Pathway
- Chinese painting ↗
FROM THE MUSEUM
The painting alludes to a legendary incident from the life of Ji Kang 嵇康 (AD 223–262), a guqin player who belonged to a group of 3rd-century eccentric intellectuals. Ji Kang is known as the author of a Guangling San (廣陵散; Melody from Guangling), a composition for the guqin so haunting that it aroused spirits to visit him. The painting depicts the moment when one of the spirits––disguised as a human––is helped by another to emerge from the ground, while others are drawn to the musician playing in his cottage under the full moon.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0A MOMENT TO LOOK
Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.
