Portrait-Icon of Murasaki Shikibu (Murasaki Shikibu zu)

17th century

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Murasaki Shikibu appears poised to begin writing her tale, pausing as if in mid-thought. Her head tilts away from her desk, while her trancelike stare is directed slightly upward, toward the calligraphy sheets in the upper portion of the painting. The inscriptions list the four stages of Tendai Buddhist contemplation (shimon) that Murasaki was said to have mastered, along with two of her waka (thirty-one-syllable poems) that speak to life’s impermanence (mujōkan).

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

References

土佐光起筆　紫式部図
Title: Portrait-Icon of Murasaki Shikibu (Murasaki Shikibu zu)
Artist: Tosa Mitsuoki (Japanese, 1617–1691)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 17th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image: 35 5/8 × 20 3/4 in. (90.5 × 52.7 cm)
Overall with mounting: 66 9/16 × 26 7/16 in. (169 × 67.1 cm)
Overall with knobs: 66 9/16 × 28 9/16 in. (169 × 72.5 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Lent by Ishiyamadera Temple
Curatorial Department: Asian Art