Keywords
Art History
Sculpture
A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the God of Thunder. Great metallic gold eyeballs with large holes as pupils beneath a sharp ridge of the eyebrows dominate the mask. The eyes are lined with blue and vermillion paint. The wide-open mouth stretching across the face to expose long rows of the upper and lower teeth, the tightly bulging cheeks, and a large, flat nose create a mighty expression. Except for the black crown that lies at the top of the mask, the entire mask is painted in gold. Can replace *ōtobide 大飛出 to depict the God of Thunder or in the play Kuzu 国栖, where the unusual features of the mask are suitable to depict a Buddha. The Umewaka 梅若 family possess a good example attributed to Deme Yūkan Mitsuyasu 出目友閑満庸 (d. 1652).