The eleventh-century literary masterpiece The Tale of Genji is set almost entirely in the capital city of Kyoto and its environs. Here, scenes from all fifty-four chapters appear in sequence across two screens—from right to left and top to bottom—in a composition that transcends shifts in time, season, and setting. The convention of “blown-off roofs” (fukinuki yatai) permits views into interiors, most of them aristocratic mansions. Famous sites such as the iconic bridge over the Uji River (at top left of the left-hand screen), south of Kyoto, are easily recognizable. Viewers familiar with the narrative can enjoy the challenge of identifying characters, episodes, and plot points.
The screens were evidently created by a Kano-school painter and at least one assistant; miniature screens seen within the interiors, mostly ink landscapes, betray a hand from around the time of Kano Yasunobu (1613–1685).
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
2015.300.37.1, right screen, overall
2015.300.37.2, left screen, overall
2015.300.37.1, panel 1 and 2
2015.300.37.1, panel 3 and 4
2015.300.37.1, panel 5 and 6
2015.300.37.1, panel 1 and 2
Artwork Details
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源氏物語図屏風
Title:Fifty-Four Scenes from The Tale of Genji
Period:Edo period (1615–1868)
Date:late 17th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, gold, and gold leaf on paper
Dimensions:Each: 66 15/16 in. × 12 ft. 5 3/16 in. (170 × 379 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number:2015.300.37.1, .2
Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," November 7, 1975–January 4, 1976.
Seattle Art Museum. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," March 10–May 1, 1977.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," June 1–July 17, 1977.
Tokyo National Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," May 21, 1985–June 30, 1985.
Nagoya City Art Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," August 17, 1985–September 23, 1985.
Atami. MOA Museum of Art. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," September 29, 1985–October 27, 1985.
Hamamatsu City Museum of Art. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," November 12, 1985–December 1, 1985.
New York. Asia Society. "Art of Japan: Selections from the Burke Collection, pts. I and II," October 2, 1986–February 22, 1987.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Courtly Romance in Japanese Art," May 12–July 12, 1989.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated," March 5–June 16, 2019.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Kyoto: Capital of Artistic Imagination," July 24, 2019–January 31, 2021.
Murase, Miyeko, Il Kim, Shi-yee Liu, Gratia Williams Nakahashi, Stephanie Wada, Soyoung Lee, and David Sensabaugh. Art Through a Lifetime: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection. Vol. 1, Japanese Paintings, Printed Works, Calligraphy. [New York]: Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, [2013], p. 58, cat. no. 79.
Carpenter, John T., and Melissa McCormick. The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019, pp. 224–25; 332–43, cat. no. 59.
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