stay warm, white mice

thanks wikimedia commons and the brooklyn museum

Shibata Zeshin (Japanese; 1807-1891) ran into some disapproval in his life for both being too Western and being too traditional in his artistic approach.  I suppose this is an example of the latter, but you won't find me complaining.  Quite the opposite.  It's unseasonably cold and gushy wet, and everyone here is huddled up in their most snuggly things (unless they're the pets, already snuggly), gazing beadily outside.  The sheer economy of Zeshin's line here is perfect; any more detail and you would be thinking, Look at the place with mice, not Oh, look at the pure white mice all cuddling.  See the one in the lower right?  He must be heading into the huddle.  You could grab his tail and get towed into it with him.  Go ahead.
Zeshin's name means something like "This is true" and I appreciate that when I see this perfect mouse pile.