Portraits of Zen masters were used in memorial services and carry with them the charisma of the deceased sitter. This formal portrait depicts Shun’oku Myōha (1311–1388), one of the most prominent figures in the history of Japanese Zen Buddhism. The disciple and nephew of the preeminent master Musō Soseki (1275–1351), Shun’oku had many illustrious followers and enjoyed the strong support of Japan’s rulers. Shun’oku himself composed and brushed the inscription on this scroll, which was created to be used in a ritual at a temple in Kyoto. It reads:
Atop his head, no eye of wisdom.
On view for rotations 1 and 2
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Artwork Details
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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.
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