Portrait-Icon of Murasaki Shikibu (Murasaki Shikibu zu)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Kano Minenobu depicts Murasaki Shikibu in action, wielding her brush, steadying her paper, and gazing down at her text, seemingly pleased with her work. Her ornate black lacquer desk has bowed legs and touches of gold. Over layers of colorful robes, she wears a pleated apron decorated with the scene of a curving shoreline dotted with pines. The image evokes Suma and Akashi as well as Sumiyoshi, whose shrine and resident deity play a pivotal role in The Tale of Genji. Above the figure, three painted cartouches bear inscriptions referring to Murasaki’s attainment of Buddhist insight concerning the nondualistic nature of phenomena. Commentators suggested this insight enabled her to produce a tale infused with an awareness of life’s impermanence.
Artwork Details
- 狩野岑信筆 近衛家熈書 紫式部図
- Title: Portrait-Icon of Murasaki Shikibu (Murasaki Shikibu zu)
- Artist: Kano Minenobu (Japanese, 1662–1709)
- Calligrapher: Attributed to Konoe Iehiro (Japanese, 1667–1736)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 17th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 44 7/16 × 21 9/16 in. (112.8 × 54.7 cm)
Overall with mounting: 82 1/16 × 29 15/16 in. (208.5 × 76 cm)
Overall with knobs: 82 1/16 × 31 5/16 in. (208.5 × 79.5 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by Ishiyamadera Temple
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art