Rakuchū rakugai zu (Rekihaku screens)
洛中洛外図屏風 歴博甲本
Artwork · Anonymous · 1525–1535 · byōbu · National Museum of Japanese History
The earliest surviving pair of rakuchū rakugai screens, formerly the Machida and the Sanjō screens, dated by their buildings between 1525 and 1535. Gold-dust clouds part to show streets and buildings: the right screen the principal, eastern part of the city from the southern edge to the palace with the Gion festival procession; the left screen the headquarters of the shogunate in Muromachi and the mansions of the daimyo. The seasons run from summer to autumn and from winter to spring. The city looks peaceful and prosperous, but there are clues to the war — shanty towns, fields before the imperial palace, barricaded neighbourhoods. The subject was invented, by tradition, by the court painter Tosa Mitsunobu (1434–1525). 1 Mason 2005, pp. 171–175, figs. 203a–b. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.