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Peafowl and Phoenixes
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Phoenixes are fantastical birds said to inhabit paulownia trees and eat bamboo, and to celebrate virtuous rulers. Peafowl are birds that amuse themselves in the lake of the Buddha Amida’s Pure Land, a paradise where many once hoped to find themselves after death. Both birds appeared on Japanese textiles or paintings in the 1500s and 1600s, used in official ceremonies centered around emperors.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePeafowl and Phoenixes (孔雀鳳凰図屏風), late 1500s. Attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi (Japanese, 1539–1613). Pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, and gold on gilded paper; overall: 173.1 x 374.4 cm (68 1/8 x 147 3/8 in.); overall: 175.9 x 377.2 cm (69 1/4 x 148 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1986.2
