The Shinto belief that aggrieved human spirits 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). Natural disasters and illnesses plagued the capital after his slander and death in exile, 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 venerated as the Shinto god of literature and music. Among the more than thirty surviving sets of handscrolls recounting Michizane’s life and the establishment of his veneration as Tenjin, this version is second in age and quality only to the early thirteenth-century version in the main Kitano Tenjin Shrine in Kyoto. The final scroll displayed here shows a shamaness, possessed by a divine spirit, delivering an oracle encouraging worship of Tenjin in 942.
On display for all rotations.
#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
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Tiled Composite of handscroll a
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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 leaf (kirikane) 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. , Kyoto, 1925; as agent sold to MMA]
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