Nine Scenes from the Tale of Genji, early 17th century
Attributed to Tawaraya Sōtatsuexpand_more
Ink, color, silver, gold, and gold foil on paperexpand_more
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundationexpand_more 2015.79.5
Not on Viewexpand_more
This screen shows nine scenes from consecutive chapters from the Tale of Genji in order from right to left. The far right panel depicts Genji sitting behind a writing desk and gazing out toward a setting sun. It is a specific moment from chapter 19 in which Genji, mourning the death of his lover, recites the following poem: “A rack of cloud across the light of evening, as if they, too, wore mourning weeds.”
Moving left, each panel of the screen depicts a single scene from chapters 20 through 25. The far left panel actually includes two scenes from chapter 26, in which Genji first tries to seduce a young woman and then is rejected by her. Because this single eight-panel screen includes scenes from eight chapters, it was probably part of a much larger set of screens depicting scenes from all fifty-four chapters of the Tale.
Details
- Title
- Nine Scenes from the Tale of Genji
- Artist Life
- died c. 1640
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2015.79.5
- Provenance
- Yoshioka Tajūrō; Setsu Gatōdō Co., Ltd. (until 1966); Mary Burke (1966-2015)
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Murase, Art through a Lifetime, no. 81
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.