Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Scenes Illustrating Poems from The Tale of Genji (Hakubyō Genji monogatari emaki), Scrolls 3 and 4
Kaoku Gyokuei Japanese
Not on view
These handscrolls are from a set of six illustrating poems from Genji, which represent the pinnacle of ink-line drawing (hakubyō) in the amateur mode. The works exhibit an appealing hallmark of ink-line painting: exuberant, charmingly out-of-scale flowers and grasses, depicted with subtle gradations of ink. The elaborate paintings reflect a level of engagement with the tale found in Genji commentaries from the same period, making the attribution to Kaoku Gyokuei, a female author of commentaries and collections of Genji poetry, likely. The final scroll of the set has a rare dated colophon indicating that it was a copy of an earlier work.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
