“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki)

Japan

Not on view

Now dispersed across multiple collections, Chapter 10 originally consisted of six scrolls with approximately thirty paintings. This meticulously detailed section captures the tonsure (cutting off one’s hair to become a monk or nun) of Genji’s stepmother, Fujitsubo, after an elaborate multiday ceremony of Eight Lectures on the Lotus Sutra commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Kiritsubo Emperor’s death.

“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki), Handscroll section mounted on 
board; ink, color and gold on paper, Japan

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