Flowers of the Four Seasons

Shen Zhou

Ink and color on paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art

This serene handscroll captures a quiet corner of a garden, where soft pink peony blossoms emerge beside lush sprays of green leaves rendered in delicate, calligraphic brushstrokes. Shen Zhou, the revered Ming dynasty literati master, worked in a loose, expressive ink-and-color style that prized spontaneity and personal feeling over rigid realism, reflecting his scholarly ideals and deep connection to nature. The muted palette and airy composition evoke a meditative stillness, inviting the viewer to slow down and appreciate the subtle rhythms of the natural world. As a founding figure of the Wu School, Shen Zhou's botanical studies like this one helped shape centuries of Chinese literati painting tradition.