春日権現験記絵模本Ⅰ―美しき春日野の風景―

Illustrated Scrolls of Kasuga Shrine (preserved at the Sannomaru Shozokan; the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Tokyo) depict the grace of deities enshrined at Kasuga Taisha as well as scenes of their miraculous efficacy. Consisting of twenty volumes, the scrolls were painted in the late Kamakura period (1192-1333) by a painter of the Art Bureau at the Imperial Court, Takashina no Takakane, and are regarded particularly highly among many illustrated scrolls.

In the late Edo period (1603-1868), copies of the scrolls were created at the command of Tokugawa Harutomi (1771-1852), the tenth head of the Kishu (present-day Wakayama prefecture) Tokugawa family. Copiously shown on these copies are the artistic techniques of prominent artists who belonged to the Fukko Yamato-e school, a school that aspired to revitalize classical Japanese yamato-e painting. Those artists include Ukita Ikkei (1795-1859), Reizei Tamechika (1823-64), and Iwase Hirotaka (1808-77).

This exhibition, themed "The Beautiful Scenery at Kasuga," is the first round of a series that attempts to introduce people's faith in Kasuga Taisha from various aspects, along with the appeal of the copies of the Illustrated Scrolls of Kasuga Shrine. Even the scenery of Kasuga, where the deities were believed to exist, was incorporated in the faith to be worshipped, and has since been depicted in numerous paintings. The scenery of the sacred land, Kasuga, which is still full of natural beauty, will be revealed through relevant works, including the copies of the Illustrated Scrolls of Kasuga Shrine, Kasuga Shrine Mandala, and Mandala of Holy Deer as Messenger of Deity of Kasuga.