Portrait of Sugawara Michizane (Translation)
菅原道真像 室町時代 絹本着色 (Primary Title)
painted scroll (Object Name)
Toto Tenjin
(Former Title)
Unknown (Artist)
Raised in an aristocratic Confucian family, Sugawara Michizane (845-903) was a poet, scholar, and high court official in Heian-period Japan. In 901, he was falsely accused of misconduct and demoted from his placement in Kyoto to the remote Kyushu Island. He died in exile at the age of fifty-nine. Legend says Sagawara was reincarnated into a thunderstorm that struck the palace, setting it aflame and killing his rivals. Today, Sagawara is worshipped as the God of Heaven (Ten’in) and the God of Literature in Shinto shrines. This portrait shows Sugawara wearing court attire sitting on a platform. With Kannon Bosatsu above him, Sugawara is surrounded in his garden by pine trees, cherry sprays, and his favorite plum blossoms.
Shinto 神道，Shingon Esoteric Buddhism 真言密宗
Muromachi period (1392-1573)
Unsigned
None
Wooden box, paper sticker: 菅原道真像 (Portrait of Sugawara Michizane)
Special Oriental Art Purchase Fund
On view G224, Japanese, Case 18 5/23/2013 - 5/6/2015
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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