REISAI. Fenggan, Hanshan, and Shide

REISAI (active ca. 1430-50)

Fenggan, Hanshan, and Shide

Fenggan, Hanshan, and Shide. Artist: Reisai (Japanese, active ca. 1430-50). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: Image (a): 37 7/8 × 13 5/8 in. (96.2 × 34.6 cm) Overall with mounting (a): 72 15/16 × 18 11/16 in. (185.3 × 47.5 cm) Overall with knobs (a): 72 15/16 × 20 5/16 in. (185.3 × 51.6 cm) Image (b): 37 15/16 × 13 9/16 in. (96.3 × 34.5 cm) Overall with mounting (b): 72 5/8 × 18 11/16 in. (184.5 × 47.4 cm) Overall with knobs (b): 72 5/8 × 20 1/4 in. (184.5 × 51.5 cm). Date: first half of the 15th century. From their perch on a rocky precipice, three figures look out over clouds rising from a valley below. At left are Hanshan and Shide (Japanese: Kanzan and Jittoku), Chan (Japanese: Zen) monks who held low-level positions at Guoqingsi, a temple on China's Mount Tiantai. The reclusive monk-poet Hanshan, shown carrying a bucket, was said to have gathered leftover food from the temple kitchen, where he worked. Shide holds a broom indicating his role as the temple janitor. The older, contemplative figure at right is their teacher Fenggan (Japanese: Bukan) who lived, according to legend, with a pet tiger, easily overlooked as he naps by a rock. Although these paintings--once the flanking scrolls of an iconic triptych--bear no seals or signatures, they have long been attributed to Reisai based on style. Reisai was a follower of Kichizan Mincho (1352-1431), an artist active in the painting atelier of the Zen monastery Tofukuji in Kyoto.

Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on paper

Muromachi period (1392-1573)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Album / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

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3150 x 4200 px | 37.9 MB

26.7 x 35.6 cm | 10.5 x 14.0 in (300 dpi)