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源氏物語図屏風「御幸」・「浮船」・「関谷」
Scenes from The Tale of Genji: “The Royal Outing,” “Ukifune,” and “The Gatehouse”

Artist:
Tosa Mitsuyoshi (Japanese, 1539–1613)
Period:
Momoyama period (1573–1615)
Date:
mid-16th–early 17th century
Culture:
Japan
Medium:
Pair of four-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold leaf on paper
Dimensions:
Image (each screen): 65 1/2 in. × 11 ft. 8 in. (166.4 × 355.6 cm)
Classification:
Screens
Credit Line:
Fletcher Fund, 1955
Accession Number:
55.94.1, .2
Not on view
These screens, originally mounted on sliding panels, were most likely part of a larger set that enclosed a room. In the central of the right screen, representing “The Royal Outing” chapter, princes and high courtiers approach in procession while falconers and huntsmen rush to hunt. In the scene at lower left, Prince Niou, Genji’s grandson, abducts the young Princess Ukifune in heavy snowfall. On the left screen, Prince Genji’s ox carriage and his former love Utsusemi’s carriage unexpectedly pass each other at Sekiya, the barrier-keepers gatehouse.

An inscription on the far left-hand panel attributes the work to Tosa Mitsuyoshi, primarily known for his delicate album-leaf paintings on classical themes. The inscription also identifies the panel as a replacement painted by Mitsuyoshi’s grandson, Tosa Mitsuoki (1617–1691).
Inscription: "Paintings of Miyuki, Sekiya and Ukifune from the Genji Monogatari. My forbear Mitsuyoshi painted them but there was a place lacking [or perhaps damaged] at the end, and the head of our house Mitsuoki repaired it. The fifth year of the Genroku (1692) and the [cyclical year] jin shin, mid-spring between the 20th and 30th day, [signed] Tosa Sakon'e Shōgen Fujiwara Mitsunari. (1646-1710)" (Translation by A.G. Wenley of Freer Gallery, except for the last word, "-nari", which was translated by A. Lippe)
Princeton University Art Museum. "Transformations in Japanese Painting," March 1, 1983–June 26, 1983.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Courtly Romance in Japanese Art," May 12, 1989–July 12, 1989.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Kodai-ji Lacquer," 1995.

Chiba City Museum of Art. "Celebrated Four Seasons: An Aspect of Japanese Paintings from the 16th to 19th Centuries," April 27, 1996–June 9, 1996.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Blossoms of Many Colors: A Selection from the Permanent Collection of Japanese Art," March 21, 2000–August 9, 2000.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Flowing Streams: Scenes from Japanese Arts and Life," December 21, 2006–June 3, 2007.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "No Ordinary Mortals: The Human Figure in Japanese Art," 2007–2008.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Ukiyo-e Artists' Responses to Romantic Legends of Two Brothers: Narihira and Yukihira," March 27, 2008–June 8, 2008.

Essays
Japanese Weddings in the Edo Period (1615–1868)
Momoyama Period (1573–1615)

Timelines
Japan, 1400–1600 A.D.
Japan, 1600–1800 A.D.

"Twelve Japanese Screens": The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 37, no. 2 (Fall, 1979)

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