A Sage Fallen Asleep Over His Books

A surimono print shows a veranda where a man has dozed off at a low desk, his head resting on a stack of books. A pine branch crosses the foreground diagonally, and beyond the open screens a garden of rocks and snowy trees is visible. A cream and red patterned border frames the scene, with a poem cartouche at upper left.

Look closer: A small artist's seal sits near the lower right corner of the print.

Artist

Yashima Gakutei

Date

ca. 1820

Medium

Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3332 × 3719 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1919