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Portrait of Sugawara Michizane
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Portrait of Sugawara Michizane

Yōgetsu (Japanese, active late 1400s to early 1500s), artist · late 1400s–early 1500s · hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

Sugawara Michizane (845–903) was a Kyoto aristocrat who died in exile in Dazaifu in Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, having been slandered at court. His vengeful spirit was later pacified by the construction of shrines in his name. His image was incorporated into the repertoire of Zen Buddhist figure painting, which included bodhisattvas, Daoist immortals, and other enlightened beings. Eminent monk Sakugen Shūryō (1501–1579) inscribed this work, which was painted by monk-painter Yōgetsu of Kyushu, who traveled east to study either in Kyoto or Kamakura. The Chinese-style poem is an ode to Michizane in his guise as the deity Tenjin.

Cleveland Museum of Art’s own description
Credit linePortrait of Sugawara Michizane, late 1400s–early 1500s. Yōgetsu (Japanese, active late 1400s to early 1500s). Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper; painting: 100.8 x 50.2 cm (39 11/16 x 19 3/4 in.); mounted: 189.2 x 65.2 cm (74 1/2 x 25 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift from the Collection of George Gund III, 2015.491
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