Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari)
Not on view
The Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari) is a tenth-century collection of some 125 brief tales in which poems are the central element. Together with the Kokinshū, the first imperial compilation of poetry (ca. 905), it was a requisite part of a literate person's education for over eight centuries until the modern ear. Sumptuously illustrated manuscripts such as this set of three books would have been a prized part of a dowry and a proud possession of an upper-class family. In this example, forty-nine jewel-like miniatures rendered in brilliant mineral colors and framed in stylized cloud bands of sprinkled gold foil follow widely used conventions of the Tosa-school artists.
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