It was previously believed that they were created during the 12th century by master portrait painter FUJIWARA no Takanobu, but there are theories that date the image anywhere from the late Kamakura to the period of the Northern and Southern Courts and speculate that the model may have been Takauji ASHIKAGA, Tadayoshi ASHIKAGA or Yoshiakira ASHIKAGA.
従来、12世紀頃の作品で、作者は似絵の名手・藤原隆信とされてきたが、制作年代を鎌倉末期～南北朝時代まで下降させ、像主についても足利尊氏・足利直義・足利義詮ではないかとする説もある。