釈迦堂縁起の画面構成について : 狩野元信研究  [in Japanese] On the composition of Shakado-engi Emaki : A study of Kano Motonobu  [in Japanese]

Shakado-engi Emaki (scroll painting about legends of Shakado temple), owned by Seiryo-ji temple, is attributed to Kano Motonobu and is thought to be the outcome of a mixture of Wa-Kan (Japanese style and Chinese style). But Motonobu's mixture of Wa-Kan in this painting is not clearly explained. It is often treated so roughly, for example, Chinese style representation of trees and rocks in Emakimono style (traditional Japanese form). So we must analyze this work as essentially as possible. In this paper, I examine this from the aspect of comosition of various scenes. The distinctive feature of composition in this painting is Naname-kozu (the diagonal lines of flow in painting) and the expression of depth as the result of Naname-kozu. Motonobu's Naname-kozu is usually pointed out in wide pictures, byobu (folding screen painting) and fusuma (screen painting). And the origin of this Naname-kozu is "henkaku no kei", which was developed in Southern Sung and had a great influence in the Muromachi period, at first on hanging scrolls and secondly on wide pictures. Motonobu made use of this comosition in Emaki-mono style, and this is exactly the Chinese element in Shakado-engi Emaki.