Water and Trees, Pure and Resplendent, 1822, Noro Kaiseki, Japanese, 1747 - 1828, 10 9/16 ¡Ñ 189 15/16 in. (26.83 ¡Ñ 482.44 cm) (image, not including between mounts)11 3/4 ¡Ñ 235 5/8 in. (29.85 ¡Ñ 598.49 cm) (mount, without roller, includes between image mounting), Ink and light color on paper; title and closing colophons/seals on silk, Japan, 19th century, Imagine you are unrolling this scroll. Beginning at the far right, mountains rise and fall, some close, others far away. Waterways and groves of trees appear and disappear. Then, from the bottom edge of the scroll, we begin to see signs of life¡Xa gentleman in a hut, an empty fishing boat, riverside dwellings¡Xall urging us to slow down and ponder. As we leave the peaceful fishing village, we follow a path moving right to left in the foreground, crossing bridges and meandering around great boulders, until we reach an empty pavilion beneath mighty pine trees¡Xat last, our destination. From within our riverside pavilion, we are offered a magnificent view of a crashing waterfall. This is the payoff, the climax of our journey. As we unroll the last few inches of the scroll, the mountains and trees disappear just as quickly as they appeared. At the very end, the painter of this scroll tells us why he created this work and why he desired to escape his home in the city and withdraw to this fantastic countryside.