Maruyama Ōkyo (円山応挙, 1733–1795), White Fox (白狐図, Hakko-zu), 1779 (An'ei 8). Hanging scroll; ink and light colour on silk. Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. One of Ōkyo's celebrated animal paintings, this work depicts a solitary white fox seated among reeds. Rendered with remarkable naturalism yet surrounded by an expanse of empty space, the painting evokes both the quiet atmosphere of the natural world and the fox's traditional role as a sacred messenger of Inari in Japanese belief.
