Portrait of the Priest Shinran

{i=>[kumagawa], content=>[Shinran (1173–1263), the founder of the Jōdo Shin sect of Pure Land Buddhism, is portrayed sitting on what appears to be a bearskin (, ), and thus this painting is known as the Bearskin Portrait. The first ever illustrated biography of Shinran is attributed to the priest Jōga (1275–1356), and an inscription on decorated paper says that this portrait, too, is by Jōga’s hand. The inscription recounts the legend of Shinran’s visit from Guze Kannon during his retreat at Rokkakudō in Kyoto.]} {br=>[[]], content=>[This is a portrait of Priest Shinran (1173-1262) who established the Jōdo Shin-shū school of Buddhism. As he is seated on bear-fur put over a tatami mat in this portrait, it is often called the \Portrait of Priest Shinran on Bear-fur\. Priest Shinran is depicted in a black Buddhist garment and a white scarf is showing from the collar. He is holding a rosary in his hands, and a stick, which symbolizes his life-long mission, is placed in front of him. The composition of this portrait is similar to another one called \Portrait of Priest Shinran of Anjō\, which was painted when Shinran was eighty-three years old.

A Buddhist poem of four lines is added to the portrait discussed in this article, which says that Priest Shinran once met Prince Regent Shōtoku-taishi in a dream when Shinran was staying in the Rokkaku-dō temple in Kyoto., According to the inscription on the back of the portrait, the poem was written by the cloistered prince Son'en in Shōren-in temple, and the portrait was painted by Jōga Hokkyō. Jōga was a Buddhist artist of the Hongan-ji school, who completed the illustrated biography of Priest Shinran in 1295 under the supervision of Kakunyo and died in 1356. As Jōga became the second abbot of Kōraku-ji temple in Shin-shū district, his painting school has been called the Kōraku-ji school. Illustrated records of the Shin-shū school of Buddhism and the portraits of patriarchs of the Shin-shū school are attributed to his painting school.]}

— Museum description: Nara National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.