Landscapes of the Four Seasons

These landscapes depict spring, summer, autumn, and winter, one scroll each. They are ink and light color on silk, and each scroll measures 149.0 cm high by 75.8 cm wide. They are designated an Important Cultural Property. They are very large for hanging-scroll landscapes, and the sight of the four side by side is powerful.

The pictures show not only the seasons but also the passing of a day. Spring brings plum blossoms and the morning, when people start to stir; summer, under a clear sky, is bright daytime; and autumn is dusk. The flag jutting out above the roof of the house low in the scene is a sake flag, the sign that a tavern is about to start serving sake for the evening. In winter, a white snow-covered mountain stands out against the darkness of night.

Sesshu trained at Shokoku-ji Temple in Kyoto, moved to Yamaguchi in his mid-thirties, and flourished with the support of the Ouchi clan. In 1467, at the age of 48, he went to Ming China with an embassy sent by the Ouchi clan. This work was painted while he studied there, following the Ming painting style, and it is thought that it may have been presented to the Ming imperial court.