Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki

The is an or (painted narrative handscroll) from the beginning of the 13th century, in the Kamakura period of Japanese history (1185–1333). An illuminated manuscript, it narrates in eight calligraphed and painted scrolls the life of and the construction of the shrine in his honour after his death. Background Originating in Japan in the sixth or seventh century through trade with the Chinese Empire, art spread widely among the aristocracy in the Heian period. An consists of one or more long rolls of paper narrating a story through texts and paintings. The reader discovers the story by progressively unrolling the scroll with one hand while rewinding it with the other hand, from right to left (according to the then horizontal writing direction of Japanese script), so that only a portion of text or image of about is visible. The narrative of an assumes a series of scenes, the rhythm, composition and transitions of which are entirely the artist's sensitivity and technique. The themes of the stories were very varied: illustrations of novels, historical chronicles, religious texts, biographies of famous people, humorous or fantastic anecdotes, etc.