Possession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine

ca. 1300

Not on view

The first shrine devoted to Sugawara no Michizane’s deified spirit, Tenjin, a god of agriculture, literature and music, and the falsely accused, was established within decades of Michizane’s death in exile in 903. In this scene, once part of a set of handscrolls painted in the hakubyō (white-drawing) style of narrative illustration, the shamaness Tajihi no Ayako receives a premonition in the form of possession by Michizane’s angry spirit. Instructed to worship the deceased statesman as a god, the disheveled, partially unclothed Tajihi no Ayako here performs an ecstatic dance on the veranda of a building while a male courtier and a monk look on. According to legend, Tajihi no Ayako received the oracle in 942 and began worshipping Tenjin. Several years later the delivery of another oracle led to the construction of the shrine proper.

Artwork Details

北野天神縁起絵巻　断簡「多治比文子」
Title: Possession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine
Period: Kamakura period (1185–1333)
Date: ca. 1300
Culture: Japan
Medium: Section of handscroll mounted as hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Image: 11 3/16 × 21 15/16 in. (28.4 × 55.8 cm)
Overall with mounting: 46 7/8 × 26 15/16 in. (119 × 68.5 cm)
Overall with knobs: 46 7/8 × 28 15/16 in. (119 × 73.5 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Object Number: 2015.300.16
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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