Portrait of Masuda Motoyoshi

This painting depicts MASUDA Motoyoshi wearing an akodanari hoshikabuto helmet with a dragon crest, Moegiitoodoshi haramaki-style armor and seated upon a dapple-grey horse. Motoyoshi’s face is painted using light yellow pigment with black ink outlines, his breastplate has green cords with red and white decoration, there is a blue and grey simplified priest’s robe hanging in front of his chest, while the horse’s tack is depicted using a red mesh over a cinnabar base, creating a bright, richly colored work. The curving ‘fukikaeshi’ on either side of the helmet bear the family crest, comprising of two wisteria blossoms with the character ‘hisashii’ in the center, while the saddle, stirrups and sword fittings all bear the family crest in gold. The face is peaceful and attractive. The subject, Motoyoshi (1558-1640) was the twentieth-generation leader of the MASUDA family and was active between the Momoyama to early Edo periods. In 1569 his overlord, MORI Motonari presented him with the ‘moto’ character from his own name so when he achieved manhood, he took the name Motoyoshi. After being defeated at the great battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he lost his castle at Nanao and was made lord of Susa in Nagato Province (present-day Yamaguchi Pref.) his family receiving the rank of chief retainer of the Mori family in perpetuity. The artist, KANO Shoei (1519-1592), was the third son of KANO Motonobu and the third leader of the Kano school. There is no record of Shoei ever having visited the San-in region but at this time it was common for portraits to be painted without the artist ever meeting the subject and it is thought that Shoei agreed to the job after having been approached by Motoyoshi’s retainers. The work was carried out some time after 1582 when the Mori clan submitted to the General Hideyoshi and Motoyoshi was in his mid-twenties. Shoei was in his early sixties when he painted the picture, his career had already been eclipsed by that of his eldest son, KANO Eitoku, and little is known of his work. The upper part of the picture has a short inscription by Joten Genkun the fourth priest of the Masuda family’s temple, Toshun-ji, in Hagi. It states that Motoyoshi was an acclaimed warrior who fought in numerous battles while simultaneously being well-versed in the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. The bottom left of the picture bears Naonobu’s jar-shaped seal.