Millet and Sparrows, 粟に燕図, Muromachi period (1392?1573), mid-16th century, Japan, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Image: 39 9/16 ? 17 5/8 in. (100. 5 ? 44. 8 cm), Paintings, Geiai (active mid-16th century), The everyday sight of cavorting sparrows was a favored theme among painters of the Muromachi period. This deftly rendered ink painting captures their lively forms in an abbreviated manner, using so-called boneless brushwork to render their feathers without lines, in varied tones, and exploiting the white ground for their soft underbodies