The Zen monk Shun’oku Myōha (1311–1388) is shown sitting cross-legged in a red lacquer chair with his shoes placed on a footrest. Shun’oku’s illustrious monastic career included top administrative positions, abbotships at major monastery temples, including Tenryūji and Nanzenji in Kyoto, and close relationships with the first and third Ashikaga shoguns. Zen portraits called chinsō were disseminated among followers and served a ritual function in memorial services. The bamboo staff signifies authority, and Shun’oku’s decorative robes and kesa (monk’s vestment) are important signs of rank. Shun’oku inscribed his portrait with a poem:
There are no eyes atop the head. There are eyebrows below the chin. This is everything; this is nothing. I also could not become a phoenix. Inscribed by Myōha of Tenryū[ji] for [illegible] at Muryōju’in
—Translation by Anne Nishimura Morse and Samuel Morse
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
春屋妙葩像 自賛
Title:Portrait of Shun'oku Myōha
Artist:Unidentified artist Japanese
Period:Nanbokuchō period (1336–92)
Date:ca. 1383
Culture:Japan
Medium:Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
Dimensions:Image: 45 5/8 × 20 1/2 in. (115.9 × 52.1 cm) Overall: 79 × 29 3/4 in. (200.7 × 75.6 cm) Overall with knobs: 79 × 31 5/8 in. (200.7 × 80.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto, 2007
Accession Number:2007.329
Inscription: There are no eyes on the top of the head There are eyebrows under the chin, This is everything; this is nothing. I also could not become a phoenix. Presented to the Muryoju-in for ------(illegible character) Inscribed by Myoha of Tenryuji
Ryūtokuan Temple , Fushimi; Henri Vever , France (until d. 1943; by descent to family).; Henri Vever (sale, Sotheby's London, June 1994, Lot 17, to London Gallery); [ London Gallery Ltd. Japanese, Tokyo, until 1995; sold to Sylvan Barnet and William Burto]; Sylvan Barnet and William Burto , Cambridge, MA (until 2007; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Enlightening Pursuits," February 28–August 5, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Written Image: Japanese Calligraphy and Paintings from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection," October 1, 2002–March 2, 2003.
New York. Japan Society Gallery. "Awakenings: Zen Figure Painting in Medieval Japan," March 28, 2007–June 14, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Animals, Birds, Insects, and Marine Life in Japanese Art," June 26–November 30, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Landscapes in Japanese Art," June 24–November 7, 2010.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Discovering Japanese Art: American Collectors and the Met," February 14 - September 27, 2015.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Bamboo Art: The Abbey Collection," June 13, 2017–February 4, 2018.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Kyoto: Capital of Artistic Imagination," July 24, 2019–January 31, 2021.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art," April 8, 2023–July 14, 2024.
Kawano Motoaki Sensei Taikan Kinen Ronbunshū Henshū Iinkai 河野元昭先生退官記念論文集編集委員会, ed. Bijutsushika, ōi ni warau : Kōno Motoaki Sensei no tame no Nihon bijutsushi ronshū 美術史家、大いに笑う : 河野元昭先生のための日本美術史論集 (Art historian, making merry: a collection of essays on Japanese art in honor of ProfessorKōno Motoaki) Tokyo: Buryukke, 2006, pp. 467–500, figs. 1–3.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, p. 103.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
