Description
Matsumura Goshun was trained in literati art by Yosa Buson and Maruyama Okyo. Here, he depicted "Oath of the Peach Garden," a scene from the classic Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The three warriors Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei became sworn brothers in a ceremony amid peach blossom trees. Matsumura’s painting follows the example of Buson’s Evening Banquet at the Peach and Pear Blossom Garden, inspired by a 16th-century Li Bai poem.
Provenance
(Katsuhiro Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1987); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1987–)
Accession Number
1987.35
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
Image: 28.2 x 25.2 cm (11 1/8 x 9 15/16 in.); Including mounting: 114.3 x 44.2 cm (45 x 17 3/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund
