Minamoto no Yoshiie at Nakoso Barrier

Object Details

• Artist

  Sumiyoshi Hironao 住吉広尚 (1781-1828)

• Calligrapher

  Yokoyama Ikei (fl. ca. 1818-1829)

• Description

  A warrior, clad in armor and carrying a bow and quiver containing arrows, sits astride a horse. Cherry blossoms fall from overhead. A poem is inscribed above.

• Label

  For the Japanese nobility of the Heian period (794-1185), Nakoso Barrier marked one of the boundaries between the civilized world and the dangerous and less orderly regions beyond. In this painting, the great warrior Minamoto no Yoshi'ie (1041-1106), who was renowned for his martial skills, pauses at the barrier on his return toward Kyoto after successful battles to the north. There he wrote the poem that is inscribed above this painting:

  Although I thought

  the wind would blow

  at Nakoso Barrier

  how deeply the mountain cherry blossoms

  cover the path

  For Japanese people, cherry blossoms, which bloom briefly each spring, are associated with notions about the brevity of life. Cherry blossoms are thus appropriate motifs that often appear in poems by warriors.

• Provenance

  To 1999

  Mr. Kenneth Keith, Rochester Hills, MI, to 1999

  From 1999

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Mr. Kenneth Keith in 1999

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Painting the Classics: Japanese Scrolls and Beyond (November 17, 2018 to October 20, 2019)

  Real and Imagined Places in Japanese Art (March 4 to October 21, 2001)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mr. Kenneth Keith

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Mr. Kenneth Keith

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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• Date

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• Name

  Keith, Kenneth

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Wars, Warrior, Art, Animals, Cherry tree, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Archery, Japanese Art, Horses, Cherry blossom, Bow, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings