“The Man Vomiting Feces” from Diseases and Deformities

A man sits on a rock, throwing up in front of a fence where autumn plants such as Japanese bush clovers and Chinese silver grass grow rampant. This work comes from Diseases and Deformities (Yamai no sōshi), a collection of images depicting various ailments and congenital disabilities. Though now mounted separately on hanging scrolls, the 15 sections of Diseases (including this work) once formed a single handscroll that had been passed down in the Sekido family in Nagoya up till the early years of the Shōwa era (1926–89). The stylistic elements of this work, expressed in the subject’s facial features, the lines on his clothes, and the shape of the plants, closely resemble those in the Hell Scroll (Jigoku-zōshi; National Treasure, Tokyo National Museum) and the Stories of Hungry Ghosts (Gaki-zōshi; National Treasure, Kyoto National Museum).

Those two works are both attributed to court painter Tokiwa Mitsunaga, who worked for Retired Emperor Goshirakawa (1127–92) in the late 12th century. Mitsunaga is also said to have painted the Illustrated Scroll of Annual Rites (Nenjū gyōji emaki; no longer extant) and Illustrated Tales of Ban Dainagon (Ban Dainagon ekotoba; National Treasure, Idemitsu Museum of Art in Tokyo). Therefore, it is assumed that Diseases may also be related to either Goshirakawa or Mitsunaga. This is a masterpiece representative of the time of its creation.

— Museum description: Kyushu National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.