Minneapolis Institute of Art

Two scenes from The Tale of Genji representing Prince Genji and Lady Murasaki

Tosa School

Date

18th century

Medium

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

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Glimpses of two scenes from the Tale, both involving Lady Murasaki, Genji’s love, emerge through golden clouds in this screen. The left half shows chapter 7, “Beneath the Autumn Leaves, ” in which ten-year-old Lady Murasaki is scolded by her nurse for acting like a child and playing with dolls. Two grown women look through the slatted blinds at Genji, who stands on the veranda and looks out at the garden. In the second scene to the right, which depicts chapter 40 “The Law, ” Murasaki and Genji sit together as they watch a performer in the garden. He wears a golden mask with a small dragon on top, indicating that he is playing the role of Prince Lan Ling in a court dance. While she appears healthy in the scene, in fact she is deathly ill, and the chapter concludes with her death. Japan, Asia

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