Japan: Illustrated Biography of Prince Shotoku in ten panels, panels one and two. Painting on silk, Hata no Chitei, Heian Period (11th Century), Tokyo National Museum

This set of paintings is the oldest and largest extant illustrated biography of Prince Regent Shotoku (574-622). It depicts places and events related to the traditional account of his life, stemming from the veneration of the prince that began in the Nara period (710-794).

These paintings were originally on fixed doors that adorned the Picture Hall in the East Precinct of Horyu-ji Temple. They were remounted as freestanding screens in the Edo period (1615-1868), and in recent times were again remounted on ten panels.

Records tell us that Hata no Chitei, an artist from Settsu Province (present-day Osaka Prefecture), painted them during the second to fifth month of Enkyu 1 (1069).

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Pictures From History