Portrait of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Person
-
作者伝粟田口隆光賛者智仁親王（桂宮）
- Date
-
制作年 AD16
- Title
- カキノモトヒトマロゾウ
- Materials, techniques and shape
- 絹本着色
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Keio Museum Commons Campus Mita
This brilliantly-colored silk screen painting depicts the ancient poet Kakinomoto-no-Hitomaro, who was later worshipped as a saintly poet. At the top right corner, two lavishly decorated shikishi-gata (usually square paper inscribed with poems) are pasted, the poem on each shikishi-gata composed by Hitomaro. He was venerated so much so that, from around the Heian Period (12th c.), it became customary to hang his portrait at poetry parties. People wishing to master the art of waka composition and success prayed to his image. Here, Hitomaro seems lost in thought pondering a poem, resting his arms on kyosoku, an armrest. Although no authenticity certification is provided, one can see that the portrait is a work of a consummated Yamatoe painter, thus it is attributed to Awataguchi Takamitsu (years of birth and death unknown), a Yamatoe-style painter of the Muromachi Period (early 15th c.) Drawings of noted ancient poets wearing Chinese clothes of the Sung Dynasty were patterned after another deified ancient poet, Sugawara-no-Michizane. In his later life (afterlife means after he was dead), Michizane was believed to have traveled to China to study Zen Buddhism.Obviously, the two shikishi-gata were pasted a few decades after the original painting was completed. The writing style and the flow of letters reveal that the calligraphy was rendered by Prince Tomohito (1579-1629), the grandson of Emperor Ohgimachi (1517-1593). The prince was at one time adopted by warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598). The prince’s relaxed writing style is typical of the broadly flowing GoKashiwabara-In School. The right shikishi-gata shows plum blossoms, the topic of the poem cited. The shikishi-gata on the left is virtually covered with plants and flowers in brilliant colors. The first poem was cited from the Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poems (Kokin Wakashu with Hiragana Preface, Chapter 6) and the Gleanings of Japanese Poems (Jp. Shui Wakashu, Chapter 1), while the second poem derives from Gleanings of Japanese Poems (Jp. Shui Wakashu, Chapter 6). It is believed that both were written by Hitomaro.
烏梅能花其鞆見盈須久堅農天喜留雪乃南倍転布礼々半あまとぶやかりのつかひにいつしかもならのみやこにことづてやらむ
Overview
Rights
Depository and ID
Components
OPEN DATADESIGN
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Details
Identifiers
- Title (EN)
- Portrait of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1幅
- Attachments
- 翻字覚書／解説墨書
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