Farming and Herding Buffalo in Summermid- to late 1500s · Study 2015.594

Context from the museum

Hideyori is most famous as the painter of a very early pair of genre screen paintings depicting people enjoying autumn foliage at a shrine-temple complex in Mount Takao near Kyoto. In this scene, people are hard at work farming their fields and herding water buffalo in summer. Such scenes were often associated with promoting the ideal of a prosperous realm, and also with the activities of the 12 months. Historical sources are divided on the biography of painter Kano Hideyori, but many scholars now believe he was the second son of Kano Motonobu, head of the Kyoto-based Kano family atelier.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting measurement for Farming and Herding Buffalo in Summer is 33.2 cm wide and 49.7 cm high, equivalent to approximately 13.1 × 19.6 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.67:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.17 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 11.1% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 133.4 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Farming and Herding Buffalo in Summer in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 33.2 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?