Flowers and Birds of the Twelve Months, one of a pair

This pair of folding screens comprises twelve separate paintings each inscribed in ink with a month of the year and two seasonal poems. In most cases, the paintings depict natural imagery described in the classical poetry. The twenty-four poems are a well-known set written in 1214 by the legendary poet Fujiwara Teika (1162–1241).

Why would poems written centuries earlier dictate the subject matter of these paintings from the early 1700s? Throughout Japanese history, classical literature carried the authority of tradition and associations with the court for members of elite society. A mastery of the classical poetry was a prerequisite to composing new poems, writing courtly calligraphy, or even painting on poetry-related subjects.

In the Edo period, Japan's imperial court and elite warriors still considered artistic collaborations combining classical poetry, painting, and calligraphy to be the highest pinnacle of culture. We have recently learned that this pair of screens was commissioned as a gift from the Emperor Higashiyama to the Kyoto governor, who held the second-highest position in the Edo shogunate. They were painted by Yamamoto Soken, a Kyoto artist closely associated with the imperial court.

The calligraphers of the unsigned poetic inscriptions have also been recently discovered. Historical documents record that the screens were inscribed by twelve high-level aristocrats—imperial princes turned priests or high courtiers—under the supervision of leading courtier Konoe Iehiro. Iehiro's calligraphy appears on the painting for the seventh month—the rightmost panel of the left screen.

Through its script and its images, this screen exemplifies Teika's mandate to use words from the past to inspire contemporary artistic expressions.