When the scholar-poet and statesman Sugawara no Michizane (845–903) died in exile after having been slandered by enemies at court, natural disasters and illnesses plagued the Japanese capital of Kyoto. These calamitous natural forces were believed to be animated by Michizane’s aggrieved spirit and were pacified when he was honored at a shrine dedicated to the thunder god in northwestern Kyoto. Later, he was deified as Tenjin, a god of agriculture, and came to be venerated as the Shinto god of literature and music.
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#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.
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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]
New York. Asia House Gallery. "Asian Art in American Collections II," April 16, 1970–June 14, 1970.
New York. Asia House Gallery. "Masterworks of Japanese Buddhist Paintings from Western Collections," October 11, 1979–December 9, 1979.
Denver Art Museum. "Masterworks of Japanese Buddhist Paintings from Western Collections," March 27, 1980–May 11, 1980.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Reflections of Reality in Japanese Art," March 15, 1983–May 1, 1983.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Bodhisattva Jizo, Guardian of Wandering Souls," February 21–May 20, 1990.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Noh Robes," 1993.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Seasonal Pleasures in Japanese Art, Part II," May 1–September 8, 1996.
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Osaka Municipal Museum of Art. "Tenjin: Sugawara no Michizane and the Arts of Tenjin Worship," November 2, 2001–December 9, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Tribute to a Dedicated Collector: Mary Griggs Burke," June 30–November 29, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Mighty Kano School: Orthodoxy and Iconoclasm," December 18, 2004–June 5, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Autumn and Winter," June 22–September 10, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Flowing Streams: Scenes from Japanese Arts and Life," December 21, 2006–June 3, 2007.
Kyushu National Museum, Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture. "Treasures of Dazaifu Tenman-gū Shrine and the Tenjin Cult," September 23, 2008–November 30, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Poetry and Travel in Japanese Art," December 18, 2008–May 31, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Storytelling in Japanese Art," November 19, 2011–May 6, 2012.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Brush Writing in the Arts of Japan," August 17, 2013–January 12, 2014.
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.
Lerman, Leo. The Museum: One Hundred Years and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Viking Press, [1969], pp. 218–19.
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.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed., New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994, p. 95, fig. 7.
Watanabe, Masako. Storytelling in Japanese Art. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011, pp. 50–53, 107, cat. no 1.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, p. 102.
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.
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