“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki)

“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Now dispersed across multiple collections, Chapter 10 originally consisted of six scrolls with approximately thirty paintings. This meticulously detailed section captures the tonsure (cutting off one’s hair to become a monk or nun) of Genji’s stepmother, Fujitsubo, after an elaborate multiday ceremony of Eight Lectures on the Lotus Sutra commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Kiritsubo Emperor’s death.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki)“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki)“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki)“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki)“A Branch of Sacred Evergreen” (Sakaki), from the Phantom Genji Scrolls (Maboroshi no Genji monogatari emaki)

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.