Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
“Little Purple Gromwell” (Wakamurasaki)
In the style of Tosa Mitsuyoshi Japanese
Not on view
In this scene from Chapter 5, Genji is on his way home from the northern hills, where he has glimpsed the young Murasaki (age 10) and asked the bishop (her great uncle) to let him take the girl. The bishop denies this audacious request, but succumbing to Genji’s radiant beauty, he invites him to play the koto and likens him to the precious udumbara flower of Buddhist lore. The artist depicts Genji leaning nonchalantly on a moss-covered rock, surrounded by red azaleas and a profusion of mountain cherry blossoms. This screen bears a striking resemblance to former sliding-door paintings (now folding screens) on view in Gallery 227, and might be based on a Tosa Mitsuyoshi original once part of that set.
On view from April 28–June 16, 2019.
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