- Provenance
- Provenance research underway.
- Label
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This scroll is one of a pair relating the founding and subsequent history of the Tsukiminedera Temple. According to legend, Prince Shotoku (Shotoku Taishi, 574-622), instructed the Korean Buddhist monk Nichira to select an auspicious site for a temple. After a prolonged search, Nichira was drawn by supernatural signs to a tree in Settsu Province. Shotoku arrived at the site, and when workmen felled the tree the earth trembled, and on the trunk stood a fully formed statue of Senju Kannon (Thousand-armed Kannon). Some workmen were stunned and others died from fright. They were revived by Nichira's prayers. From the mid-sixth century, Paekche, one of the three kingdoms on the Korean peninsula, sought alliance with Japan. Japan was initially exposed to Buddhism as a result. Prince Shotoku became a devout Buddhist and encouraged the assimilation of Korean culture.
Tosa Mitsunobu, head of the imperial painting bureau, was probably the artist; the calligraphy is likely by Fujiwara Kinnatsu (born 1463). Such formidable talents were seldom engaged to produce histories of obscure provincial temples; it is possible that a prominent noble was given shelter at Tsukiminedera during the Onin War (1467-77), and the painting was commissioned out of gratitude.
- Published References
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- Takagishi Akira. "中世やまと絵史論." Reflections on Medieval Yamato-e. Tokyo, Japan, 2020. pgs 191, 196, 204, and 205, figs 69-72.
- The Selected Works of Japanese Art vol. 9: Ink Painting and Yamato-e Art in Muromachi Period. vol. 9, . .
- Japan Depicted in Images: Visiting the Spencer Collection. Japan. .
- Tsuyoshi Kawasaki. The Pictorial Representation of the Pilgrimage to Kumano: The Culture of Shugendo in Muromachi Period. Japan. .
- Takagishi Akira. Settsu Amagasaki Daikakuji Shiryo [Daikakuji Temple at Amagasaki]. .
- Mara Miller. Expressions of States of Mind in Asia: Proceedings of the INALCO-UNO Workshop held in Naples. Naples, May 27, 2000. pl. 4.
- Dr. John Alexander Pope, Thomas Lawton, Harold P. Stern. The Freer Gallery of Art. 2 vols., Washington and Tokyo, 1971-1972. cat. 72, vol. 2: p. 174.
- Takagishi Akira. Muromachi emaki no maryoku [Renaissance of the Painting Scrolls in Muromachi Japan]: suisei to sozo no chusei. Tokyo. pp. 3-4.
- Takagishi Akira. Two Picture Scrolls Telling the Origin of the Tsukiminedera Temple and the Daikakuji Temple. vol. 33, no. 1, September 2003. p. 37.
- Melissa McCormick. Tosa Mitsunobu and the Small Scroll in Medieval Japan. Seattle and London. p. 101, fig. 43.
- Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art handbook. Washington, 1976. p. 106.
- Tsuchiya Maki. "初期狩野派絵巻の研究." A Study of Early Kano School Picture Scrolls. Tokyo, Japan, 2019. p. 228 and 236, figs. 4-14, 4-15, and 4-27.
- Collection Area(s)
- Japanese Art
- Web Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- SI Usage Statement
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CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
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Usage Conditions Apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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