The Tale of Genji
Artist Unknown (Japanese)
Early 17th century
- Medium
- Pair of six-panel screens; ink, colors, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Each: 166 × 371 cm (65 3/8 × 146 1/8 in.)
- Culture
- Japan
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Gift of Robert Allerton in honor of Mr. & Mrs. William McCormick Blair's fiftieth wedding anniversary
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This pair of folding screens depicts a few scenes from The Tale of Genji, a long novel written in the 11th century by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu. Even though they take place at different times in the story, the selected episodes are set in one continuous landscape. On the far right, the baby Genji is presented to his father, the emperor, for the first time. Across the bottom of the left screen, court ladies argue about which season is the most beautiful. Above, in the upper left corner, Genji and his love, Lady Murasaki, share an intimate moment in front of a charcoal brazier. The painter may have chosen these scenes fo their felicitous overtones. The overall character of the screens suggests that they were intended to be part of a bride’s wedding trousseau, which would accompany her to her new home.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
