Landscape of the Four Seasons

四季山水図巻

At a glance — Painting · Muromachi period · held by Kyoto National Museum · designated Important Cultural Property of Japan · Sesshu.

Fact Sheet

Designation: Important Cultural Property (重要文化財)
Category: Paintings
Period: Muromachi period
Date: 1401–1600
Creator: Sesshu (雪舟、拙宗、雪舟等楊)
Dimensions: Height21.5cm:Width1151.5cm
Held by: Kyoto National Museum
Location: Higashiyama, Kyoto
Catalogue ID: cobas-5607

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Same period: Muromachi paintings →
Same creator: Sesshu →
At this museum: All 680 works here →

This long scroll (over 10 meters in length) depicts landscapes in the four seasons. It is often called the “Short Scroll of Landscapes” in contrast with the so-called “Long Scroll of Landscapes,” also by Sesshu, kept in the Mori Hoko-kai. The careful brush strokes and the strict composition reflect the influence of Xia Gui from the China's Southern Song Dynasty. As the brush strokes are milder than those in the Mori-family scroll, some art-historians think that this work was painted not long before Sesshu's death.

— Museum description: Kyoto National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.

Record & Sources

Designation: Important Cultural Property (重要文化財), Government of Japan
Catalogue ID: cobas-5607 (permanent)
Official record: Japan Search — jpsearch.go.jp/item/cobas-5607
Holder's collection: ColBase — Kyoto National Museum
Photograph: Kyoto National Museum, via ColBase — CC BY 4.0. CC BY 4.0 licence

Cite this page: “Landscape of the Four Seasons（四季山水図巻）.” Treasures of Japan, catalogue no. cobas-5607. Kyoto National Museum. https://treasures.yamato-kenkou.com/treasures/landscape-of-the-four-seasons-kyoto-national-museum/ — entry last verified 1 November 2026.

Full record data (as published in the official catalogue record)

Category: Paintings, sketches, and prints:Japan:Medieval ink paintings
Genre: Painting
Size: Height21.5cm:Width1151.5cm
Cultural property designation: Important Cultural Property
員数: 1巻
分類: 絵画
法量: 縦21.5cm:横1151.5cm
種別: 絵画:日本:中世水墨画
銘文等: 「雪舟」（朱文二重方印）

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