Genji espies Murasaki for the first time, from the Wakamurasaki chapter of The Tale of Genji / Kanô Tsunenobu / Attributed to
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2002/1.168
- Title
- Genji espies Murasaki for the first time, from the Wakamurasaki chapter of The Tale of Genji
- Artist
- Kanô Tsunenobu
- Artist Nationality
- Japanese
- Artist Life Dates
- active 1636-1713
- Medium and Support
- ink, color, and gold pigment and foil on paper
- Object Creation Date
- circa 1670-1680
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- Japan (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Japan (nation)
- Inscription
- Signature and seal of Kano Tan'yu
- Dimensions
- 114.4 cm x 346 cm (45 1/16 in. x 136 1/4 in.)
- Century
- 17th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- screen
- Secondary Object Classification
- Painting
- Secondary Object Type
- figures on landscape
- Physical Description
- Among a gold and bright mineral pigmented landscape, Genji stands below a cherry tree in full bloom and watches Murasaki, who stands in an architectural structure. A distant stream and hilltops indicate the isolated setting.
- Subject Matter
- On an excursion in the mountains, Genji discovers the villa of a tonsured noblewoman. The nun has temporary charge of her granddaughter, Murasaki. (Wakamurasaki means “the young Murasaki.”) Drawn by the commotion caused when a maid accidentally released Murasaki’s pet sparrow, Genji peeks through the fence. Struck by Murasaki’s beauty, he arranges to adopt her; she later became his favorite concubine. The cherry tree in full bloom suggests the blossoming of romance.
- In the seventeenth century, large-scale folding screens of Genji themes became popular trousseau items among members of the military aristocracy. For these auspicious purposes, artists chose scenes that idealized courtly love, rather than the darker moments in the novel. The style of these paintings looks back to the earliest Genji pictures of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, which had established a classical model for the theme: gold and bright mineral pigments are thickly applied to create a rich, jewel-like surface, and figures are drawn with stylized features to allow viewers to imaginatively project themselves into the scene.
- Primary Keywords
- allegory
- buildings
- cherry tree
- figures
- flowers
- gold
- gold (metal)
- hills
- house
- landscape
- landscapes
- literature
- lovers
- stream
- trees
- Secondary Keywords
- upward
- allegory and literature
- architecture
- artistic concepts
- artistic devices
- associated concepts
- bodies of water
- bodies of water and components of bodies of water
- bodies of water by size
- buildings and the land
- business and industry
- concepts in the arts
- deciduous trees
- descriptors
- document genres
- gold and gold alloy
- houses
- information forms
- inorganic material
- landforms
- landforms and landform components
- landforms by shape or position
- landscapes (environments)
- materials
- materials by composition
- metal
- metal and metal products
- metal by composition or origin
- mine
- natural landscapes
- nonferrous metal
- objects we use
- people and culture
- people and occupations
- plants
- riverine bodies
- settlements and landscapes
- symbolism
- the natural world
- trees by leaf life
- vegetation and vegetation components
- vegetation components
- woody plants
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1500 x 847
- File Size
- 115 KB
- Record
- 2002/1.168
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2002-sl-1.168/2002_1.168.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:2002-SL-1.168:2002_1.168.JPG
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- Full citation
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"Genji espies Murasaki for the first time, from the Wakamurasaki chapter of The Tale of Genji; ; Kanô Tsunenobu; Attributed to." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2002-sl-1.168/2002_1.168.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 11, 2024.