Artwork preview

Birds and Jutting Rocks

Shibata Zeshin

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The painting features a dark gray background with a beige border, adorned with a gold section on the left side. The gold section has jagged black marks resembling rock formations. Two red birds with black wings and tails are depicted flying near the rocks. The birds are positioned on the right side of the painting, with one above the other. The top bird faces left, while the bottom bird faces right and holds an object in its beak. A vertical line of Asian script is visible on the left side of the gold section, with the top portion in black and the bottom in red.

Artwork details

Medium:
Album leaf; brown and gold lacquer on silver paper
Culture:
Japan
Dimensions:
470 × 625 px
Museum record:
View original
Palette