Artworks

Sketch for The Seven Fortunes and Misfortunes

Artwork · Maruyama Ōkyo · 1768 · handscroll · Manno Art Museum

A preparatory sketch for the three scrolls (about 45 m long) commissioned in 1768 by Yūjō, abbot of Enmanin in Ōtsu, to show the blessings and evils of life — he wanted real-life phenomena rather than fantastic tales of heaven and hell. Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795), the founder of the Maruyama–Shijō school, looked for actual examples even of the most unusual scenes: a naked man torn apart by two bulls with their tails set afire. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 320–321, fig. 371. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.