Shōki, the Demon Queller

The army of demons surrendered, ” according to the inscription atop this portrait of Shōki, the Queller of Demons. A deity from China’s Daoist pantheon, Shōki is usually shown with one or more demons, but his fierceness in this portrait appears to have driven them away. Keisen moved to Kyoto to study under Tsuji Kakō and was known among local painters for, among other things, his excessive partying.