Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Two Battles from the Genpei War: Ichinotani and Yashima
Not on view
These screens depict battles fought at the height of civil wars between two rival clans, the Minamoto and the Taira, that traumatized people living in Kyoto and other parts of Japan in the 1100s. The events represented here occurred during the Genpei War (1180–85) and became common themes in literature and the visual and performing arts from the medieval period onward. These two battles were often paired in folding screens of the 1600s. At Ichinotani in the spring of 1184 and then at Yashima the following spring, the Minamoto overcame Taira strongholds, achieving a more decisive victory soon after. These events led to the establishment of Japan’s first military government headed by a dictatorial shogun.
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