Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Unknown Artist
early 1300s
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
painting: 107.6 × 39 cm · mounted: 174.4 × 55 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Herbert F. Leisy in memory of his wife, Helen Stamp Leisy
Accession Number
1977.203
About this artwork
Among Japan’s greatest poets, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro’s (c. 660–724) portrait was often displayed at poetry competitions. Here, he gazes up at a falling cherry blossom, his writing box before him, brush and paper in his hands. A short biography and one of his poems are inked on painted rectangles meant to look like decorated papers. The first part of the poem has been mostly lost, but from what remains, it is possible to recognize it as Dimly, dimly in the morning mist that lies over Akashi Bay, ...