Kozuka with the Monk Mongaku

Description The monk Mongaku (1139-1203; also known as Endô Moritô) is frequently depicted doing penance sitting under the Nachi waterfall. He became a monk after inadvertently killing his cousin rather than her husband. He was twice exiled from Kyoto because of his opposition to the emperor. The artist signed the kozuka on the reverse.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Signature] On kozuka: [ ] 元重; [Translation] [ ] Motoshige

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters