Twelve Poetic Immortals and Their Poems

<p>&lt;BIG&gt;屏風の12扇には、三十六歌仙の内の十二人の肖像が金地に描かれている。御所の公式行事でのごとく盛装しており、女性は十二単をまとい、男性は束帯や狩衣と烏帽子などを着用している。歌人の上には詠んだ和歌が達筆な書で記されている。女性の歌仙が多く描かれていることから、この屏風は、婦人の室内用に注文されたものと思われる。</p> <p>為恭は、復古大和絵派の画家の中で、古典的な絵画の復興に、最も熱意を燃やした人物であった。技法を、数百年前の原画を丹念に模写することで習得し、さらに、宮廷の生活、儀式、衣裳の詳しい知識を独学で身につけた。　この絵の完成二ヶ月前に、長年希望していた官位を受けている。<br>幕末の騒乱期、為恭は、絵画の習得のため、幕府要人宅を訪問するところを見咎められ、後に尊皇派に追われ、42歳で暗殺された。&lt;/BIG&gt;</p> <p>On each of twelve panels of this pair of screens, the figure of a revered poet from Japan’s classical age is seated, set against a solid gold ground. Attired as if in a formal courtly setting, the women wear the many-layered kimono of the aristocracy of the Heian period (794-1185), while the men sport clothing and lacquered hats of various court ranks. Above each poet is a <em>waka</em> verse that he or she composed, brushed in masterful calligraphy of a general style contemporary with the poet’s lifetime. The relatively large number of female poets depicted may indicate that the screens were commissioned for use in women’s quarters.</p> <p>Tamechika was perhaps the most earnest of the <em>fukko yamato-e</em> artists who revived classical Japanese painting. Learning this technique required painstaking copying of original, centuries-old works. To this, Tamechika added an extraordinary, self-taught knowledge of court life, ceremonies, and dress. Just two months before this painting was done, Tamechika attained his long-held desire of receiving a court rank himself.<br>On the brink of Japan’s imperial restoration, Tamechika was seen visiting the home of a top shogunal official where he was studying works of art, and ironically, was later tracked down and assassinated, at the age of 42, by proimperialists.</p>