a Picture of Sumimoto Hosokawa on Horseback 1507

Kanō Motonobu painted this portrait of Sumimoto Hosokawa on paper in Japan during the Muromachi period. The subject here is a powerful samurai warrior, depicted in full armor and mounted on horseback. Portraits of the elite samurai class, like this one, served as a demonstration of power and status in feudal Japan. The Kanō school, to which Motonobu belonged, became the dominant style in Japanese painting for centuries, in part because it was favored by the ruling classes. The school was patronized by the Ashikaga shogunate and later by other powerful figures like Oda Nobunaga, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. These were relationships that shaped the school's aesthetic priorities. Analyzing such an image requires understanding the specific codes and conventions governing representation in Japan at this time and how it intersects with the political history of the period. By consulting historical records, genealogies, and other sources we can gain insight into the artist and patron motivations, as well as the painting's original context and meaning.