Minneapolis Institute of Art

Scenes from The Tale of Genji representing months of the year

Tosa Mitsunari

Date

1705

Medium

Six-panel folding screen, ink, color, and gold on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The time of year is usually specified in The Tale of Genji, and the author takes pains to describe seasonal indicators such as weather and seasonal plants. This screen, once part of a pair, features illustrations and textual passages representing the six months of summer and autumn in order from right to left. The fourth panel from the right, for example, is titled “10th month” and shows an appropriately autumnal scene: 19-year-old Genji and his friend (and sometime rival) Tō no Chūjō dance in a palace garden beneath a maple tree whose crimson leaves fall and scatter. Or, in the Tale’s lyrical description: “Under tall autumn trees [the music] mingled with the wind’s roaring and sighing as it swept gale-like down the mountain, while through the flutter of bright falling leaves [the men’s dancing] shone forth with awesome beauty.” Japan, Asia

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