神功皇后図|The Legendary Empress Jingū

Kōsai Hokushin 蛟斎北岑

mid-19th century · Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk · Asian Art

Jingū, a legendary empress of Japan, was a warrior-ruler, said to have been active in the third century. A wet nurse cradles her son, the future emperor Ōjin. Takenouchi no Sukune, her wizened general, holds a fan inscribed with the words “destroyer of armies,” referring to a militarily auspicious star in the Big Dipper, and a reminder that Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and many of his students—including Kōsai Hokushin—were adherents of the cult of the North Star.

Artist

Kōsai Hokushin 蛟斎北岑

Date

mid-19th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2014