Restoration Project on Designated Cultural Property 'Portrait of Priest Kukai' Completed; Discovered to Have Been Gilded with Gold Leaf

April 17, 2024

The restoration work on the "Portrait of Priest Kukai", a cultural property donated by the Century Cultural Foundation, has been completed, and the piece returned to the Keio Museum Commons (KeMCo) on March 28, 2024. This work, in the Tagai no Miei (Portraits of Each Other) style, also known as the Mutual Portraits style, forms one part of a pair of portraits together with the portrait of Hachiman, the god of war, also known as Great Bodhisattva Hachiman. While many portraits of Kukai feature him seated on a pedestal with attached wooden elbow rests, the Tagai no Miei style is characterized by the absence of such wooden elbow rests, thus making this work especially invaluable. The "Portrait of Priest Kukai" was created in the fourth year of Katei (1238) during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). The inscription "Priest Gonkai, Fourth Year of Katei, January 18, 1238" can be found on the bottom left of the piece. It is thought that this Gonkai may have been the Shingon sect priest Gonkai (1173-1251), who became the chief abbot, or toji choja, of Toji Temple (the highest-ranking authority of both Toji Temple as well as the Shingon sect of Buddhism).

The two-year restoration process was carried out in the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, from 2022 to 2023. In this restoration project, the hanging scroll was dismantled and new silk was added to repair the portrait. The new silk was aged to a degree so that its appearance matches that of silk from the Kamakura Period. The added silk was then painted over in such a way that while it was possible to distinguish the newly restored portions, it did not detract from the appreciation of the work. The black lining paper was removed and replaced with new paper. In places where there were folds and creases due to the long years of storage, paper of approximately 2mm in width was applied to the back of the portrait. In addition, the mounting fabric was repaired and a plant dye using akane (Japanese madder) and asen (gambir) with an orange tinge was chosen for the coloring.

Furthermore, during the restoration process, when the lining paper was removed, it was discovered that the reverse side of this paper had been gilded with gold leaf for a portion of the pedestal depicted in the portrait. The gold leaf cannot be observed from the surface; thus, this is a valuable discovery that was revealed only because of this restoration project, which was an opportunity that arises only once every approximately 200 years. It is fortuitous that the gold leaf and back coloring on the reverse side remained, as they could have been damaged during the removal of the lining paper in past restorations. We look forward to the unveiling of the restored work in the future.

This restoration project was supported by the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, the Asahi Shimbun Foundation, and the Sumitomo Foundation.

The lining paper is applied to the back of the paper on which the picture itself is painted and significantly influences the overall impression the artwork, as the colors show through the paper. The mounting fabric is the textile surrounding the painting of a hanging scroll.