Scenes from The Tale of Genji

Tosa School

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These elegant and richly colored Tale of Genji illustrations are stylistically and compositionally close to the refined, almost miniaturist album-leaf paintings by Tosa Mitsuyoshi (1539–1613) and his Tosa school successor, Mitsunori (1583–1638). Although slightly less delicate and gossamer in quality than the album paintings of either, the scenes created by this unknown artist exhibit a similar attention to minute detail, highlighted in these albums by layers of mineral pigments and the application of gold and sprinkled gold. Each of the tale’s fifty-four chapters is represented by an illustration. Although devoid of titles or other inscriptions, standardized compositions allow the viewer to identify the chapters, characters, and events depicted.

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