Artworks

Fragment of the Hōnen Shōnin eden

Artwork · Anonymous · early 14th century · kakemono · The Metropolitan Museum of Art

From one of the most elaborate illustrated lives of Hōnen (1133–1212), founder of the Jōdo sect: originally forty-eight scrolls compiled over ten years from 1307, edited by the Mount Hiei priest Shunshō at the request of the retired emperor Go Fushimi, with calligraphy by eight men of the court. Hōnen, his back to the wall in a temple room, inscribes a copy of his portrait for his disciple Shinran, who kneels before him. A document of events rather than a gripping narrative. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 201–203, fig. 234. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.