Minneapolis Institute of Art

Lady from the “Visiting Kawachi” Episode of the Tales of Ise

Japan

Date

second half 17th century

Medium

Hanging scroll (nikuhitsu), ink and color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The body of a single female figure forms a dramatic S-shape against a blank background. With her right hand she raises her hem, providing us with a better view of the design motifs that adorn her robes: maple leaves, deer, and autumn flowers and grasses on a white outer robe, and chrysanthemums and cresting waves on her red inner robe. This combination of motifs alludes to a poem from “Visiting Kawachi, ” a single episode of the tenth-century Tales of Ise, allowing her to be identified as the unnamed heroine of that episode. Japan, Asia

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