The Poet Koōgimi, from the “Fujifusa Version” of Thirty-six Poetic Immortals (Fujifusa-bon Sanjūrokkasen emaki)l

15th century

Not on view

We do not see the face of the poet, whose kneeling figure is all but obscured by her voluminous, layered court garb, against which the graceful fall of her black hair creates a sinuous pattern. The inscription and poems on this portrait identify the sitter as Koōgimi, lady-in-waiting to two successive emperors of the early eleventh century. The selection of poets for the “Fujifusa Version” of the Thirty-six Poetic Immortals is believed to have been edited by the courtier Fujiwara no Fujifusa (born 1295). Only eleven fragments from the handscroll, including this precious example, are known to survive. Koōgimi’s verse alludes to a failed attempt by the Shinto deity Hitokotonushi no Kami to erect a stone bridge (iwabashi) between Mount Katsuragi in Nara and Kinpusen to thesouth. The phrase “stone bridge” has thus come to suggest an interrupted love affair.

Iwabashi no
yoru no chigiri mo
taenu beshi
akuru wabishiki
Katsuragi no kami

Last night’s vows of love,
like a stone bridge,
cannot be extended!
At dawn, how sad the god
of Katsuragi appears.

—trans. by John T. Carpenter

Artwork Details

小大君「藤房本　三十六歌仙絵巻」　断簡
Title: The Poet Koōgimi, from the “Fujifusa Version” of Thirty-six Poetic Immortals (Fujifusa-bon Sanjūrokkasen emaki)l
Period: Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Date: 15th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Handscroll fragment mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: H. 11 3/8 in. (28.9 cm); W. 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm)
Overall: H. 45 13/16 in. (116.4 cm); W. 22 9/16 in. (57.3 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Object Number: 2015.300.22
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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