Manner of Konoe Nobutada 近衛信尹 (1565-1614) Tenjin (Sugawara no Michizane)
Momoyama (1573-1615) or Edo (1615-1868) period, 17th centuryKakejiku (hanging scroll), ink on paper in silk mounts, depicting a stylised standing image of Tenjin, the deified form of Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), dressed in Chinese robes beneath a poem; wood jiku (roller ends) Overall: 175cm x 37.5cm (68 7/8in x 14?in); Image: 90.8cm x 30cm (35?in x 11?in) (2).
注脚
Wood tomobako storage box inscribed outside Konoe Sanmyakuin Nobutada-kō hitsu Kankō gasan ichijiku 近衛三藐院信尹公筆 菅公画賛 一軸 (One scroll of Sugawara Michizane with inscription, brushed by Lord Konoe Sankyakuin Nobutada)Konoe Nobutada, a senior courtier, Zen practitioner and follower of the Way of Tea, is well known for a large number of paintings of Tenjin, the deified form of Sugawara Michizane (845-903) and Japanese god of literature and learning. Nobutada himself wrote in 1609 that he had painted 100 similar images of Michizane and legend has it that he could complete more than 20 in a morning (see Rosenfield 1999, cat. no. 31). For further examples see Murase 2013, cat. no. 140 and Japan Society 1989, cat. no. 5 (Sanso collection). A number of these paintings are dated 1609 or 1610. As usual, Tenjin's crown takes the form of the character ten 天 (heaven), while his arms and robe are a free form of the character jin 神 (deity).