Japan: Section from the Hikone Screen, a byobu folding screen painting, c. 1624-1644. The Hikone Screen was a byobo folding screen from the Kan'ei era (c. 1624-1644) of the Edo period. Painted on gold-leaf paper and folding in six parts, the screen depicts Kyoto's pleasure quarters, with people playing music and games. It is a representative of early modern Japanese genre painting, and seen by some as the earliest ukiyo-e artwork. It was designated a National Treasure in 1955.
Yamato-e is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang Dynasty paintings and developed in the late Heian period. It is considered the classical Japanese style. From the Muromachi period (15th century), the term Yamato-e has been used to distinguish work from contemporary Chinese style paintings (kara-e), which were inspired by Song and Yuan Dynasty Zen Buddhism paintings. The Yamato-e often tell narrative themes with text along with them, show the beauty of nature, famous places (meisho-e), and the four seasons (shiki-e). The pictures are non-symbolic and have the objective of depicting the beauty in nature. The pictures are often on scrolls that can be hung on a wall (kakemono) or handscrolls (emakimono) that could be read from right to left with the accompanying story or on a folding screen (byoubu) or panel (shouji). Although they received their name from the Yamato period (250-710 CE), Yamato-e pictures rather stand for a style and are not restricted to a particular period. Although the most famous artists painted in sumi-e style in the Muromachi period, this was not characteristic of early pictures.
Size: 3900px × 4565px
Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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