藤原鎌足像|Fujiwara no Kamatari as a Shinto Deity

Unknown

after 1350 · Hanging scroll; color on silk · Asian Art

The court minister Fujiwara no Kamatari (614–669), was the first of his illustrious clan to dominate Japanese court life (which the family continued to do through the twelfth century). After his death, he came to be venerated as a Shinto deity at Danzan Shrine in Tonomine, near Nara. Seen here in official garb, he is attended by his sons—one a high-ranking Buddhist monk and the other Kamatari’s successor at court. Their kami nature is indicated by three hanging golden mirrors—symbolic objects in Shinto.

Artist

Unknown

Date

after 1350

Medium

Hanging scroll; color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Bequests of Edward C. Moore and Bruce Webster, by exchange, and Gifts of Mrs. George A. Crocker and David Murray, by exchange, 1985