Portrait of Date Masamune
伊達政宗
- Birth Year
- 1880
- Death Year
- 1916
- Date
- 1910
- Technique, Material, Format
- color on silk, hanging scroll
- Dimension
- 120.5 x 71.0 cm
- Donor name
- Mr. Hara Noriyuki and Mrs. Hara Etsuko
- Category
- Nihonga (Japanese-style Painting)
- Inventory Number
- 88-JP-013
It is well known that regional lord Date Masamune lost his right eye. Portraits of him wearing an eyepatch are common, although there are also many showing him with both eyes, which he is said to have requested towards the end of his life.
This painting shows Masamune in Kyoto, having traveled there after losing the trust of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He has confessed to failures worthy of death and so makes a showy display of his willingness to die by being depicted with a gold-leaf crucifix. The crucifix appears to be a cross, though it is not shown in its entirety. Focusing on Masamune himself, the painting does not depict any actions, but rather portrays a calm, unmoving, and dignified figure. The dark green of his wakizashi sword brings out the subdued colors of his clothing, and the gold in his clothing echoes the gold of the cross. After artist Imamura Shiko died, the painting became the property of his patron, Hara Tomitaro (Sankei).
(YATSUYANAGI Sae)