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“Butterflies”

late 16th–early 17th century
Not on view
This single screen, one of the finest examples of painting by Tosa Mitsuyoshi, encapsulates the imagined visual splendor of Genji’s Rokujō estate and conflates episodes from two different days in one composition. Ladies-in-waiting from the autumn quadrant of the Umetsubo Empress (Akikonomu) have arrived in Murasaki’s spring garden on a water bird boat on the upper left. The foreground scene takes place the next day, when page girls spectacularly costumed as paradisal kalavinka birds and butterflies of the court bugaku dance arrive at the autumn quadrant via dragon boat. The girls have been sent by Murasaki with flower offerings for the Empress’s sutra reading. The profusion of cherry blossoms throughout the screen illustrates the dominance of the spring season.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 源氏物語図屏風 (胡蝶)
  • Title: “Butterflies”
  • Artist: Tosa Mitsuyoshi (Japanese, 1539–1613)
  • Period: Momoyama period (1573–1615)
  • Date: late 16th–early 17th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Six-panel folding screen; ink, color, gold, and gold leaf on paper
  • Dimensions: 65 in. × 12 ft. 3/4 in. (165.1 × 367.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.300.32
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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“The Oak Tree”, Tosa Mitsuyoshi Japanese, Album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on paper, Japan
“The Oak Tree”
Tosa Mitsuyoshi
late 16th–early 17th century
“Mistflowers”, Tosa Mitsuyoshi Japanese, Album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on paper, Japan
“Mistflowers”
Tosa Mitsuyoshi
late 16th–early 17th century
“Little Purple Gromwell” (Wakamurasaki), Tosa Mitsuyoshi Japanese, Two-panel folding screen; ink, color, gold, and gold leaf on paper, Japan
Returned to lender
“Little Purple Gromwell” (Wakamurasaki)
Tosa Mitsuyoshi
early 17th century
Tale of Genji Chapter Books: Chapter 10, “A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), Tosa Mitsuyoshi Japanese, Thread-bound manuscript book with painted covers; ink, color, and gold on paper, Japan
Returned to lender
Tale of Genji Chapter Books: Chapter 10, “A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki)
Tosa Mitsuyoshi
Saionji Shōkō
early 17th century
“Butterflies” (Kōchō), Tosa Mitsuyoshi Japanese, From an album of eighty paired paintings and calligraphic texts; ink, color, and gold on paper, Japan
Returned to lender
“Butterflies” (Kōchō)
Tosa Mitsuyoshi
Reizei Tameyori
1612

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