Flowers and Trees of the Four Seasons (left screen)
1704
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1704
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a tall folding screen covered in cherry, pine, and bamboo branches, each flower or needle painted with careful strokes. Shikō painted these plants so precisely that scholars think he studied real specimens. Yet he also added gold and silver dust to the leaves, making the screen shimmer in candlelight. The mix of science and sparkle was new in Kyoto at the time. To see how other artists in Kyoto used gold leaf, look up the subject *japan, edo period (1615–1868)*.
