The Third Princess and Kashiwagi, from Chapter 34, “New Herbs I (Wakana I)” (Nihon shinnō onna sannomiya)

Yōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Like his master, Toyohara Kunichika, Chikanobu is known for genre scenes in the triptych format. This triptych is related to an episode from Chapter 34, or New Herbs I, in the Tale of Genji, in which the youth Kashiwagi happens to notice a kitten running out from under a bamboo blind. He glimpses the elegant figure of the Third Princess, one of Genji's wives, behind the blind and falls in love with her, to disastrous effect. In this image, Chikanobu has transformed the Third Princess into a monumental image of woman. She is no longer the traditionally mysterious woman cloistered in an interior; she invades the outside world, as if she rules over the three courtiers.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art