"Heartvine" ("Aoi") chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari)

16th century

Not on view

This scroll, with its engagingly childlike rendition of scenes from the ninth chapter of The Tale of Genji, is an example of a ko-e (“small pictures”) handscroll, a format popular among amateur painters, including court ladies, during the Muromachi period. Scenes executed in a simplified version of the classic hakubyō (white drawing) method of monochrome painting alternate with sections of text. The compositional device known as fukinuki-yatai, or “blown-away roof,” permits viewers to peer into several rooms of Prince Genji’s residence at once. Genji’s wife Aoi has just given birth to his son Yūgiri, but she dies shortly thereafter, a victim of the jealous spirit of Genji’s former lover, the Rokujō lady.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

「葵」『源氏物語』絵巻
Title: "Heartvine" ("Aoi") chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari)
Period: Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Date: 16th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Handscroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Image: 4 3/4 in. × 18 ft. 9 3/16 in. (12 × 572 cm)
Overall with knobs: 5 in. × 18 ft. 9 3/16 in. (12.7 × 572 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Object Number: 2015.300.29
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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