Landscape with Woodcutters Returning Home1200s · Study 1988.20

Context from the museum

In late Song dynasty Chinese Chan Buddhist temples, paintings of landscapes, animals, or plants frequently took the place of deities. This hanging scroll features the humble life of woodcutters in nature an is in keeping with the Chan emphasis on simplicity and on the spiritual benefits of manual labor. executed in broad, quickly applied washes and punctuated by dark dots and texture strokes, the work is inscribed by Xuzhou Pudu, a priest at Wanshou temple near the Southern Song capital at Lin'an (modern Hangzhou).

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

A detail to notice

A landscape with identical measurements in a Japanese private collection is also inscribed by Xuzhou. They may have been a pair of flanking scrolls in a triptych.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected image measurement for Landscape with Woodcutters Returning Home is 58.3 cm wide and 124.5 cm high, equivalent to approximately 23.0 × 49.0 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.47:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.73 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 19.4% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 120.8 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 Landscape with Woodcutters Returning Home 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 on silk, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 58.3 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?