The Minister Toru Daijin Standing by a Lake Beneath a Crescent Moon, from the series A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poetry
1834
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1834
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The painting shows a minister standing by a lake under a crescent moon. He's with two other men in a landscape garden. The garden has trees and water, a peaceful scene. The minister, Toru, was a high-ranking official and the son of an emperor. He wrote a poem that might have inspired this painting. The poem mentions boats on the water in moonlight, shaded by pines. This painting is similar to works by other Japanese artists. To learn more, look up the artist Katsushika Hokusai.
