Tree Peony — 牡丹

"Tree Peony" (牡丹, botan) depicts the spectacular tree peony — the "queen of flowers" in both Chinese and Japanese floral aesthetics — with the attention of the kacho-ga (flower and bird) tradition applied to this most opulent of blooms. The tree peony's enormous, layered flowers in shades from white through pink to deep crimson were celebrated in Japanese poetry and visual art as emblems of spring's peak abundance. Shuntei renders the bloom with botanical precision: the arrangement of petals, the pattern of stamens, the relationship of flower to leaf and branch.