Scene from the Tale of Genji: The Wizard (Ch. 41) (Translation)
源氏物語図扇面 幻 桃山-江户時代 紙本着色 (Primary Title)
Fan (Object Name)

This fan painting depicts Genji in grief over his late wife, Lady Murasaki. With Murasaki’s favorite red plums just coming into bloom in February, it is the time for the annual memorial service. Here Genji confesses to a holy man, who presides over the service in Genji’s home. In preparation for his own impending death, Genji burns the poems and love letters that he exchanged with his beloved. This painting is remarkable not only for its graceful style but also for its portrayals of inner beings of characters, depictions of nature, and Buddhist themes.

A Japanese literary classic written by Murasaki Shikibu in the eleventh century, The Tale of Genji is often called the world’s first novel. Informed in part by her eight-year stay in Kyoto, where she served as a lady-in-waiting to Emperor Ichijo’s consort, Murasaki’s novel captures the drama of Japanese aristocratic society and the lives of high courtiers during the Heian period (AD 794–1185).

In fifty-four chapters, The Tale of Genji recounts the life and romances of its fictitious main character, Prince Genji. The tale follows Genji’s amorous adventures and life in Kyoto, his exile to a rural area in Suma, his return and rise to the highest imperial office, and his death at age fifty-two. The novel’s ending is set in the mountainous area of Uji where stories about Genji's descendants are told. For centuries, The Tale of Genji has inspired Japanese artists. The paintings in this gallery illustrate The Tale of Genji using lyrical colors and monochrome ink in fine lines in the styles of the Tosa or Rinpa schools of painting.