View of Amanohashidate
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This screen depicts Amanohashidate, a sacred site on the rugged coast north of Kyoto, that has been celebrated in song and image since ancient times and, since the 1600s, counted as one of Japan’s three most scenic locales. It has long been a destination for pilgrims and sightseers alike. The left half of the screen depicts the precincts of Chionji, a Buddhist temple, with its two-story jeweled pagoda seen in the bottom of the second panel from the left. At right is a narrow spit of land dotted with pines, the dramatic coastal feature that lends Amanohashidate its name: the Bridge to Heaven.
This screen would have originally constituted the right half of a pair of screens. Its mate would also have shown a sacred locale, likely a similarly coastal one, such as Itsukushima.
This screen would have originally constituted the right half of a pair of screens. Its mate would also have shown a sacred locale, likely a similarly coastal one, such as Itsukushima.
Artwork Details
- 天橋立図屏風
- Title: View of Amanohashidate
- Period: Momoyama period (1573–1615) or early Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: early 17th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Six-panel folding screen; ink, color, and gold on paper
- Dimensions: 59 3/4 in. × 11 ft. 5 1/2 in. (151.7 × 349.2 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by John C. Weber Collection
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art