Minneapolis Institute of Art

Scene from the Spring Shoots II Chapter of The Tale of Genji

Japan

Date

16th century

Medium

Handscroll fragment, mounted as hanging scroll, ink on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Although it is now mounted as a hanging scroll, this painting is one small section of a set of handscrolls illustrating The Tale of Genji. The painter, likely a woman, depicts a scene from chapter 35, “Spring Shoots II, ” when Genji accompanies several women on a pilgrimage. The women are shown in interior spaces defined by diagonal walls and screens. At far right two men are seated on a veranda. The three principal female characters at left are each identified by name. Monochrome drawings like this represent a style of painting known as hakubyō, or “white drawing.” Hakubyō-style pictures of The Tale of Genji were popular during the Muromachi period (1392–1573) and were created by amateur women painters in a private, aristocratic setting, in stark contrast to the colorful folding screens usually commissioned by powerful men and done by professional painters. Japan, Asia

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