人麻呂 (中) ・ 伊勢 (右) ・ 小町 (左) 図|Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Hitomaro (M) ・Ise (R) ・Komachi (L)
Tosa Mitsunari 土佐光成|Tosa Mitsutaka 土佐光高|Tosa Mitsuoki 土佐光起
1691 · Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk · Asian Art
A trio of painters in the Tosa family—father, son, and grandson—collaborated on this triptych of imaginary portraits of three of ancient Japan’s greatest poets. For the central scroll, Mitsuoki—the esteemed head of the Tosa school of traditional Japanese-style painting—rendered the patriarch of Japanese poetry, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (ca. 660–724). Mitsunari, Mitsuoki’s son, painted Lady Ise (ca. 875–ca. 938), dressed in gorgeous court robes in the scroll at right. The court lady and poet Ono no Komachi (ca. 825–ca. 900), depicted with a water basin, is the work of Mitsutaka, the Tosa master’s grandson. This set of portraits celebrates the high regard for poetry in Japanese cultural history.
- Artist
- Tosa Mitsunari 土佐光成|Tosa Mitsutaka 土佐光高|Tosa Mitsuoki 土佐光起
- Date
- 1691
- Medium
- Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk
- Culture
- Japan
- Department
- Asian Art
- Credit line
- Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2021
