Scenes from the Tales of Genji

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Scenes from the Tales of Genji

About the Item

This important screen displays an elaborate selection of scenes from the eleventh-century novel The Tales of Genji. The finely detailed figures interspersed throughout the composition illustrate scenes from different chapters of Genji, but are unified by the theme of nature, more specifically, the link between nature and the protagonists of the novel. Two keys to the connections are the full moon on the upper left and the bridge on the upper right of the screen.

The full moon on the upper left refers to the romantic boat scene on a winter night in the Ukifune chapter, seen in the upper center. Here Niou is seated in the boat with Ukifune and, while looking at the hills bathed in moon light, they pledge undying love to each other.

In the Asagao chapter the moon appears again as Genji and Asagao look out at the garden on a winter night and admire the fallen snow. Genji asks the page girls to go out in the garden and roll a snowball, and he and Asagao enjoy the scene bathed in moonlight.

The moon connects these two scenes, which also share the same season and the nocturnal setting. Central to both cases is the joy of love when looking at nature together, specifically on a winter night.

The bridge in the upper right corner refers to the Ukifune love boat scene, which takes place close to Uji Bridge. The bridge is also associated with the excursion to Sumiyoshi Shrine in the Miotsukushi chapter, seen on the right. Waiting inside his carriage, Genji wants to write a love letter and his servant Koremitsu hands him a writing box and brushes. The curved bridge on the screen refers to both scenes, the Uji Bridge and the Sumiyoshi Bridge; the red torii gate in front of the bridge refers to the Sumiyoshi Shrine. Bridges with their many poetic allusions became symbols for travel in nature in the literal and visual culture of the Heian and later period.

The last two scenes that balance the composition on the bottom left and right corners are, on the bottom left, the emperor being presented with pheasants taken in a hunt, bringing nature to the palace; and, on the bottom right, the poignant scene from the Yomogiu chapter where Prince Genji visits his long-lost love, the Safflower Princess, who suffers from poverty in a run-down mansion. Here Prince Genji is led by his servant Koremitsu, who guides him to the dilapidated house through the overgrown garden.

In all of these scenes, we see how the figures negotiate with nature and how nature relates to love, to imperial offerings, to travel and even to poverty. What at first seems to be a set of non-connected scenes are in fact expertly selected moments in the novel that connect by themes from across the panels of the screen.

The screen is attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi through similarities in style, facial features, and golden clouds. The golden clouds are made of two types of gold—gold leaf bordered with gold wash on gofun—and the features of the faces are superbly expressive. Mitsuyoshi and his atelier painted a number of Genji screens during his lifetime and examples by him exist in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the Kyoto National Museum and the Idemitsu Museum of Art.

Dimensions:
Height: 63.51 in (161.3 cm)Width: 146.58 in (372.3 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Gold,Silver
Place of Origin:
Japan
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
Momoyama Period (1568-1615), early 17th C
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
Seller: T-31691stDibs: U10103189885