Chinese Literatus Traveling to a Mountain Temple

Also known as: Travelers in the Mountains

About the Artwork

This painting bears the seal of Kano Hidemasa, believed to be the son of Kano Hideyori (active mid- to late 1500s) of the important and prolific Kano family of painters. It features a traveler and his servant in a Chinese setting. The two are on their way to a temple up the stairs, climbing the steep slope of the mountain ahead of them. The traveler, who wears clerical garb, has paused to admire and listen to the sound of a nearby waterfall. The painting is a charming interpretation of a scene that might be found in Song dynasty album leaves imported to Japan.

Exhibition history

Reeds and Geese: Japanese Art from the Collection of George Gund III. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 21-September 3, 2017).

Quick Overview

Artist: Kano Hidemasa (Japanese, active late 1500s)
Date: late 1500s
Medium: hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Japanese Art
Credit line: Gift from the Collection of George Gund III
Accession no.: 2015.480

Provenance

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s open-access data does not include an ownership history for this work. See the museum’s page for this work.

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.