Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi

Tosa Mitsuoki Japanese
 Tosa Mitsunari Japanese
 Tosa Mitsutaka Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 226

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.

Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi, Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691), Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk, Japan

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Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi, Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691), Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk, Japan
Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi, Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691), Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk, Japan
Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi, Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691), Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk, Japan
Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi, Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691), Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk, Japan
Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi, Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691), Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk, Japan
Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi, Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691), Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk, Japan
Portraits of Three Famous Poets: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Lady Ise, and Ono no Komachi, Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691), Triptych of hanging scrolls: ink, color, gold and silver on silk, Japan

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