Tōyo Sesshū 雪舟等楊

Ink washes are juxtaposed with bold brushstrokes to create this majestic scene of mountains and water. A small figure crossing the bridge in the foreground

emphasizes the landscape’s monumentality.

Attributed to Sesshū, a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, the painting represents ideals favored by the Zen sect and their patrons in the 1400s and 1500s. Beginning in the early 1200s, traveling monks brought ink paintings by Chinese Chan Buddhist monks to Japan, where they served as prototypes for Japanese ink paintings. This example’s unusually large size indicates that it might have been commissioned by a wealthy patron for display in a temple or large manor house.