Sketch Copy of Natural Disasters, from the Seven Fortunes and Misfortunes
1773
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1773
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Sketch Copy of Natural Disasters, from the Seven Fortunes and Misfortunes is a 1773 unspecified by Unknown, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a long paper scroll filled with small, busy scenes—people running from storms, fighting off wild dogs, or clinging to trees in floods. This is a copy of a famous scroll by Maruyama Ōkyo, made after his original. He painted disasters to scare viewers into behaving better, like a moral warning. The scenes feel real, almost like snapshots, which was new for the time. If you like this, look up the subject *japan, edo period (1615–1868) to meiji period (1868–1912)* for more works like it.
This unmounted handscroll is a copy of the first of a three-scroll set painted by Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795) for Buddhist monk Yujō (1723–1773). It depicts people's unfortunate encounters with forces of nature from wind to beasts. Ōkyo's realistic, contemporary imagery was meant to evoke a sense of recognition and empathy in viewers, shocking them into avoidance of possible punishments.
Notations that appear throughout the scroll indicate colors and other details of the original painting.
Read the full account in the museum source.
