The Ban Dainagon Ekotoba, the Kibi Daijin Nitto Emaki, and the Nenju Gyoji Emaki

The dissertation analyses two famous Japanese picture scrolls, the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba, the Kibi Daijin Nitto Emaki, and the copy of the Nenju Gyoji Emaki attributed to Mitsunaga. It examines their relationship, and the attribution to Mitsunaga of whom no dated or signed works have survived. Part I gives an outline of the historical background, and secular painting in the 12th and 13th c. Part II examines the literary evidence about Mitsunaga and his work. A Tokiwa Genji Mitsunaga is mentioned in 1173 as working on pictures on imperial pilgrimages. The name Mitsunaga also appears in connection with a series of scrolls of Nenju Gyoji (Annual court ceremonies), according to a 13th c. source, painted for emperor Go Shirakawa (1127-1192). The latter is usually identified with an extant set of copies of 1662. Later attributions of important works of the 12th c. to Mitsunaga cannot be trusted. Part III studies the extant works attributed to Mitsunaga. Chapter VIII examines the Nenju Gyoji scrolls, the basis of all attributions to Mitsunaga. Stylistic analysis shows that the originals could not be by one master artist; none can be identified as works of Mitsunaga. Chapter IX examines the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba. The style and the calligraphy attributed to Fujiwara Norinaga (1106-1178) place it in the middle of the 12th c. Chapter X analyses the Kibi Daijin Nitto Emaki, and concludes that it should be two generations later than the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba. Chapter XI presents the lost Hikohohodemi no Mikoto Emaki for the first time to the Western reader; its original ought to antedate 1178. Chapter XII discusses the Kokawadera Engi. Chapter XIII compares the Shigisan Engi, a major work of the 12th c. not attributed to Mitsunaga, to the other scrolls, and shows that it is a work of the early 13th c., a date corroborated by the calligraphy. Chapter XIV proposes a new relative sequence of dating for all major scrolls in the narrative style of the period.