Landscape and Couplet of Chinese Verse

late 18th century

Not on view

Ike Taiga juxtaposes a landscape of towering mountains of an almost impossible steepness with a four-line poem by the Tang-dynasty poet Li Bai, celebrating the spirit of solitude found within unspoiled nature. A pathway leads from close to the lower margin into the center of the composition and draws the viewer into the pictorial space. It seems to invite us to imagine ourselves in the place of the lonely wanderer shown in the center of the image. The man is likely meant to be the poet himself, since the walking pole is an iconographic convention for representing Li Bai. The poem reads:

The birds have vanished down the sky.
Now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.
—Trans. Sam Hamill

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

池大雅筆　「独座敬亭山」図
Title: Landscape and Couplet of Chinese Verse
Artist: Ike no Taiga (Japanese, 1723–1776)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: late 18th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Pair of hanging scrolls; ink on paper
Dimensions: Each: 52 x 7 5/8 in. (132.1 x 19.4 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015
Object Number: 2015.500.9.61a, b
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Ike no Taiga

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Finger Painting of a Landscape, Ike no Taiga Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan — Finger Painting of a Landscape
Ike no Taiga
ca. 1730s

Helmet (<i>Zukinnari Kabuto</i>), Iron, lacquer, Japanese — Helmet (*Zukinnari Kabuto*)
Japanese
16th century

Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu, Ni Zan Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, China — Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu
Ni Zan
dated 1372

Taiga Hall Painting Album (Taigadō gafu), Ike no Taiga Japanese, Woodblock printed book (orihon, accordion-style); ink and color on paper, Japan — Taiga Hall Painting Album (Taigadō gafu)
Illustrations by Ike no Taiga
Preface by Murase Kotei
1803

Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese — Armor (*Gusoku*)
Armorer Helmet bowl signed Saotome Ietada
Armorer Breastplate inscribed inside, Myōchin Munesuke
16th and 18th centuries

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.