Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Shrine (Kitano Tenjin Engi) (detail). Kamakura period (1185–1333), 13th century. Japan. Handscroll; ink and color on paper; 11 3/4 x 28 ft. 3 3/4 in. (29.8 x 863 cm). Fletcher Fund, 1925 (25.224a).
Michizane's talents as a poet and calligrapher were revealed at a very young age, and his reputation spread quickly throughout the land. Here we see him as a young man composing a poem at the request of the emperor, while his father, himself a noted poet, looks on proudly.
