Kōrakuji-ha 康楽寺派

Keywords
Art History
Painting

The Kōrakuji school. A hereditary school of Buddhist painters *ebusshi 絵仏師 formed in the early 14th century by Jōga 浄賀 (fl. ca. 1295), a priest at Kōrakuji 康楽寺, in Shinano 信濃 (present-day Nagano Prefecture) Province. Members of this school characteristically painted Jōdo Shinshū 浄土真宗 Buddhist subjects in ink with light coloring. Jōga is thought to have painted the Shinran Shōnin den-e 親鸞上人伝絵 (Nishihonganji 西本願寺, Kyoto) in 1325. In 1343, Jōga's followers Sōshun 宗舜 (1293-1370) and Enshun 円舜 (1318-84) collaborated to paint the Honganji Shōnin den-e 本願寺聖人伝絵 (Higashihonganji 東本願寺, Kyoto). In 1351, Enjaku 円寂, who may be the same artist as Enshun, painted the Shinshū ressozō 真宗列祖像. The school continued to flourish until the end of the 15th century.