Portrait of Shinran Shonin (Ink on Paper; the Mirror Portrait)

The Mirror Portrait of Shinran

The Portrait of Shinran Shonin (Ink on Paper; the Mirror Portrait) (紙本墨画親鸞聖人像（鏡御影）) is a Kamakura-period hanging scroll portraying Shinran, founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, in ink lines alone, owned by the Hongwanji branch of Shin Buddhism, whose head temple, Hongwanji (Nishi Honganji), is in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture; it was designated a National Treasure on June 28, 1956.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, an inscription on the back dated 1310 records that it was painted by Sen'amidabutsu, son of Fujiwara no Nobuzane. Hongwanji likewise names the painter as Sen'amidabutsu, son of Nobuzane, the master of the nise-e likeness portrait.

Why It Is a National Treasure

Hongwanji describes the Mirror Portrait as capturing Shinran's noble bearing superbly in ink lines alone, and as one of the finest Kamakura-period nise-e. Nise-e are portraits that record a sitter's features realistically, a genre brought to maturity in the Kamakura period by Fujiwara no Nobuzane and others.

The designation also includes, as attached items, the Anjo Portrait of Shinran in colour on silk and a copy of it. The Agency notes that the Anjo Portrait bears passages from the Gansho-ge, the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life and the Shoshin-ge in Shinran's own hand. That portraits of the founder from different lineages survive together adds to the weight of this designation.

What to Look For

Hongwanji draws attention to the contrast between the face, drawn carefully in fine lines, and the body, rendered with a sketch-like brush; that interplay gives the portrait its tension.

Notice too that no colour is used: the sitter's dignity is conveyed entirely by line. Look at the differences in fineness and energy of the strokes to see how a painter from the leading family of portraitists captured Shinran's features.

Seeing the Portrait

The Mirror Portrait is introduced among Hongwanji's treasures, but the temple's website gives no information on regular public display. Check announcements from Hongwanji and museum exhibitions for opportunities to see it. Hongwanji is at Hongwanji Monzen-machi, Horikawa-dori Hanayacho-sagaru, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto (075-371-5181).