Genji espies Murasaki for the first time, from the Wakamurasaki chapter of The Tale of Genji / Kanô Tsunenobu / Attributed to

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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 Nationality
Japanese
Artist Life Dates
active 1636-1713
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.
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
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Technical Details

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

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:2002-SL-1.168:2002_1.168.JPG

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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 March 28, 2024.
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