Events

Rebirth of the Hie-Sanno Festival in a Momoyama-Period Screen
Yale University Art Gallery
1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06520 (North side at Chapel)

Lecture by Matthew P. McKelway, Atsumi Associate Professor
Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, New York
(Lecture will be at Gallery Lobby)

"The lecture will lead viewers through a remarkable Japanese screen painting of the Hie-Sanno Festival - a Shinto festival that is closely related to the kami who protect Mount Hiei, where the Enryakuji of the Tendai sect was built in 788. The Hie-Sanno Festival, held every April in tribute to peace and abundant harvest, takes place at the Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Sakamoto, a historic village on Lake Biwa that lies at the foot of Mount Hiei. One of the captivating features of this festival painting, like many others of this type, is that the picture quite accurately depicts the topography. This newly discovered screen of great religious complexity has an unusual format (8-panel folding screen), brilliant colors, abundant gold leaf, and superb draftsmanship. It was produced perhaps in the 1590s. Completely unknown in Japan, it is probably one of the oldest depictions of the ancient festival that originated in 1072. Lent by Rosemarie and Leighton Longhi, B.A. 1967 of New York City, to the Yale University Art Gallery, the screen will be shown to the public for the very first time as part of the 2010 fall term exhibition.

"The lecture will lead viewers through a remarkable Japanese screen painting of the Hie-Sanno Festival - a Shinto festival that is closely related to the kami who protect Mount Hiei, where the Enryakuji of the Tendai sect was built in 788. The Hie-Sanno Festival, held every April in tribute to peace and abundant harvest, takes place at the Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Sakamoto, a historic village on Lake Biwa that lies at the foot of Mount Hiei. One of the captivating features of this festival painting, like many others of this type, is that the picture quite accurately depicts the topography. This newly discovered screen of great religious complexity has an unusual format (8-panel folding screen), brilliant colors, abundant gold leaf, and superb draftsmanship. It was produced perhaps in the 1590s. Completely unknown in Japan, it is probably one of the oldest depictions of the ancient festival that originated in 1072. Lent by Rosemarie and Leighton Longhi, B.A. 1967 of New York City, to the Yale University Art Gallery, the screen will be shown to the public for the very first time as part of the 2010 fall term exhibition. "

Please come early before the talk by Professor McKelway on September 7 to examine the screen as the Gallery closes at 5:00 pm. The Screen will be on view from September 1 through the end of October, 2010.