Old Temple Amid Spring Clouds

This work bears a poetic inscription by a monk, Chikuan Daien, indicating that this shigajiku (lit. poem-picture scroll; a hanging scroll with a picture at the bottom and an associated poem above) was made as a gift for Onko, a venerable monk at Shozan Manjuji Temple in Bungo province (present-day Oita Prefecture). There are also inscriptions by seven other monks, including Keinan Eibun, Yoka Shinko, and Kosei Ryuha. Five of the monks hail from temples associated with Tofukuji Temple, offering a clue as to where this work was produced.
The work’s strongly frontal composition and heavy brushstrokes also suggest stylistic similarities to the works of Mincho (1351–1431), a painter who was a monk at Tofukuji Temple. However, it is not likely to have been painted by Mincho himself, as he passed away four months before this painting was probably produced.