The Tale of Genji Album of Paintings

Edo (Japan) · 3F · World Art · Japan

This album renders in pictures the Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari), the novel written in the early eleventh century by the Heian-period woman Murasaki Shikibu. With its hero Hikaru Genji, an aristocrat blessed with striking looks, talent, and high rank, the novel vividly portrays the life of Heian aristocracy and stands as a masterpiece of classical Japanese literature. The paintings are attributed to Tosa Mitsuoki, a painter of the Tosa school that carried on the tradition of yamato-e, Japan's distinctive colored painting; the album lets us see Heian aristocrats as viewed through Edo-period eyes, while also savoring the beauty of hiragana, Japan's own script.

See it in person at the National Museum of Korea — 3F · World Art · Japan

Source: based on official e-museum records (National Museum of Korea).