Portrait of Sugawara Michizane
late 1400s–early 1500s
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
painting: 100.8 × 50.2 cm · mounted: 189.2 × 65.2 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift from the Collection of George Gund III
Accession Number
2015.491
Tags
About this artwork
Sugawara Michizane (845–903) was a Kyoto aristocrat who died in exile in Dazaifu in Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, having been slandered at court. His vengeful spirit was later pacified by the construction of shrines in his name. His image was incorporated into the repertoire of Zen Buddhist figure painting, which included bodhisattvas, Daoist immortals, and other enlightened beings. Eminent monk Sakugen Shūryō (1501–1579) inscribed this work, which was painted by monk-painter Yōgetsu of Kyu...