清原元輔 「為重本　時代不同歌合絵巻」 断簡　|The Poet Kiyohara Motosuke, from the “Tameshige Version” of Thirty-six Poetic Immortals (Tameshige-bon Jidai fudō utawase emaki)

Art Historical Context

This delicate painting portrays the renowned Heian-period poet Kiyohara Motosuke, one of the celebrated Thirty-six Poetic Immortals. Created in the 15th century during Japan’s Muromachi period, the work originally formed part of the “Tameshige Version” handscroll, a pictorial anthology that staged imaginary poetry contests between poets of different eras. Such emaki (picture scrolls) blended literature and visual art, allowing viewers to appreciate both the verses and the imagined likenesses of their authors. The section has been remounted as a hanging scroll, preserving its ink and color on paper technique. In Muromachi Japan, artists often used fluid brushwork and subtle washes to evoke the refined elegance of courtly figures, here capturing Motosuke in quiet contemplation. The compact composition, once part of a longer narrative sequence, now invites intimate viewing of the poet’s serene expression and traditional robes. As a gift to the Metropolitan Museum, this fragment highlights the enduring cultural reverence for waka poetry and the artistic practice of honoring literary masters across centuries.