Princess Ogimi from the "Bridge Maiden" (Hashihime) chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari)

Hishikawa Waō

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this scene from the forty-fifth chapter of The Tale of Genji, Kaoru—officially known as Genji’s son, although he is the product of an illicit affair between Genji’s wife and a young nobleman—pays a visit to the household of a prince in Uji. There he falls in love with the prince’s daughter Ōigimi. The young girl has been playing her biwa (a lutelike instrument), and she raises the plectrum in the air as if to summon the moon, which appears from behind a cloud. The Edo-based artist Waō specialized in ukiyo-e paintings of beautiful women as well as woodblock prints. Few facts about his life are available, and he is believed by some to have been the same person as the far better-known artist and poet Hanabusa Itchō (1652–1724).

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