The Shinto belief that aggrieved human spirits can animate forces of nature underlies the origins of Kyoto’s Kitano Tenjin Shrine (Kitano Tenmangū), dedicated to the scholar-poet and statesman Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), who died in exile after having been slandered by enemies at court. Natural disasters and illnesses plagued the capital after his death, but Michizane’s spirit was pacified when he was honored at a shrine dedicated to the thunder god in northwestern Kyoto. Later, he was deified as Tenjin, an ancient god of agriculture, and came to be venerated as the Shinto god of literature and music. Among the more than thirty extant sets of handscrolls recounting Michizane’s life and the events leading to the establishment of the Tenjin cult, this version is second in age and quality only to the early thirteenth-century version in the main Kitano Tenjin Shrine in Kyoto.
#8851. Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine, Part 1
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8851. Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine, Part 1
8856. Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine, Part 2
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
scroll a, 1 of 12 sections
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scroll c, 1 of 13 sections
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scroll d, section 1 of 10
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Tiled Composite of handscroll a
Tiled Composite of handscroll b
Tiled Composite of handscroll c
Tiled Composite of handscroll d
Tiled Composite of handscroll e
Artwork Details
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北野天神縁起絵巻
Title:Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine (Kitano Tenjin engi emaki)
Period:Kamakura period (1185–1333)
Date:late 13th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Set of five handscrolls; ink, color, and cut gold on paper
Dimensions:a: 11 5/16 in. × 22 ft. 7 7/16 in. (28.8 × 689.4 cm) b: 11 5/16 in. × 25 ft. 3/8 in. (28.8 × 763 cm) c: 11 5/16 x 274 1/8 in. (28.8 x 696.3 cm) d: 11 5/16 x 224 15/16 in. (28.8 x 571.4 cm) e: 11 5/16 x 352 3/16 in. (28.8 x 894.5 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1925
Accession Number:25.224a–e
Taisanji Temple, Igawadani (near Kobe).; Maeda Kenjiro , Japan; Machida Hisanari Japanese, Japan; Marquis Inoue Kaoru Japanese, Shizuoka (until d. 1915; by descent to family).; Yamanaka & Co. Japanese, Kyoto, 1925; as agent sold to MMA]
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Storytelling in Japanese Art," November 19, 2011–May 6, 2012.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Discovering Japanese Art: American Collectors and the Met," February 14 - September 27, 2015.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Shinto: Discovery of the Divine in Japanese Art," April 9, 2019–June 30, 2019.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Kyoto: Capital of Artistic Imagination," July 24, 2019–January 31, 2021.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art Treasures of the Metropolitan: A Selection from the European and Asiatic Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Ar. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1952, p. 239, fig. 205.
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Akiyama Terukazu, Shimada Shūjirō, and Yamane Yūzō, eds. Zaigai Nihon no shihō (Japanese Art: Selections from Western Collections): Emakimono (Narrative Scroll Painting) vol. 2, Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1980, figs. 65–67.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983, p. 243, fig. 7 (d, only).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Asia. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987, pp. 22–23, pl. 7.
Tokyo Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo 東京国立文化財研究所, ed. Nyūyōku Metoroporitan Bijutsukan, kaiga, chōkoku ニューヨークメトロポリタン美術館，絵画・彫刻 (Painting and sculpture of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) Kaigai shozai Nihon bijutsuhin chōsa hōkoku 海外所在日本美術品調查報告 (Catalogue of Japanese art in foreign collections) 1. Tokyo: Kobunkazai Kagaku Kenkyūkai, 1991, pp. 22–23, cat. nos. 67.1-5.
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Vilbar, Sinéad, and Kevin Gray Carr. Shinto: Discovery of the Divine in Japanese Art. Exh. cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019, pp. 120–27, cat. no. 48.
Sōkan (Japanese, active late 11th–early 12th century)
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