His Perfumed Highness from Album of Illustrations for the Tale of Genji, 1600s. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Accordion album; ink, light color, and gold on paper; each leaf: x 22 cm (10 3/8 x 8 11/16 in.); painting only: 17 x cm (6 11/16 x 8 1/8 in.). This album contains illustrations for the classic literary work the Tale of Genji, authored in the 1000s by Murasaki Shikibu, an aristocrat of the Heian period (794–1185) court. The scenes are painted in the “white drawing” (hakuby?) mode, in which a fine ink line is used to depict figures and spaces with great subtlety, punctuated o


His Perfumed Highness from Album of Illustrations for the Tale of Genji, 1600s. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Accordion album; ink, light color, and gold on paper; each leaf: x 22 cm (10 3/8 x 8 11/16 in.); painting only: 17 x cm (6 11/16 x 8 1/8 in.). This album contains illustrations for the classic literary work the Tale of Genji, authored in the 1000s by Murasaki Shikibu, an aristocrat of the Heian period (794–1185) court. The scenes are painted in the “white drawing” (hakuby?) mode, in which a fine ink line is used to depict figures and spaces with great subtlety, punctuated only occasionally by traces of red pigment for a character’s lips, a detail of a garment, or a decorative element. These two scenes illustrate episodes from the chapters “Thin Veil of Cloud” (Usugumo) and “Barrier Gate” (Sekiya).


Size: 2914px × 3400px
Photo credit: © CMA/BOT / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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