Kanō Tsunenobu
Early to mid-Edo period (17th–18th century)
Donated by the Homma family
Kanō Tsunenobu (1636–1713) was the eldest son of Kanō Naonobu, the founder of the Kanō family of Kobiki Town and an official painter of the Edo shogunate. As a hard worker, Tsunenobu was promoted to the rank of hōin (the highest rank of painter) and succeeded his uncle Kanō Tan’yu as head of the Edo Kanō School.
This painting depicts Monju, bodhisattva of transcendent wisdom, holding a sutra in his right hand with the upper half of his body visible through the clouds. The artistic expression conveyed by the amount of blank space and drifting clouds created by the faint black ink makes this a superb piece.