Cleveland Museum of Art

Sketch Copy of Natural Disasters, from the Seven Fortunes and Misfortunes

Date

after 1773

Medium

handscroll; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) to Meiji period (1868–1912)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This unmounted handscroll is a copy of the first of a three-scroll set painted by Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795) for Buddhist monk Yujō (1723–1773). It depicts people's unfortunate encounters with forces of nature from wind to beasts. Ōkyo's realistic, contemporary imagery was meant to evoke a sense of recognition and empathy in viewers, shocking them into avoidance of possible punishments. Notations that appear throughout the scroll indicate colors and other details of the original painting.

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