Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper
Portraits of Thirty-six Immortal Poets refers to the thirty-six renowned waka poets documented in the Anthology of Poems by the Thirty-Six Poets, compiled by the aristocratic poet Fujiwara no Kintō (966–1041) during the Heian period. These poets were later collectively referred to as the “Thirty-Six Immortal Poets” and were often depicted in illustrations and painted scrolls. Typically, each poet’s portrait was accompanied by their name, their brief biographical details, and a waka poem attributed to them. The figures in these illustrations were often rendered in the Kamakura period’s nise-e style, a technique of yamato-e painting emphasizing realism and documentary quality. This style employs delicate ink lines, repeatedly adjusted, to capture the essence of the subject’s facial features and spirit. The subjects of nise-e often included emperors, court nobles, warriors, poets, and occasionally animals such as horses and oxen.