국립중앙박물관 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA

Highlights
Album Containing the Illustrations of Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji)
  • Exhibition Name

    The Tale of Genji

  • Nationality/Period

    Edo Period

  • Materials

    Paper

  • Author

    Presumably Tosa Mitsuoki(傳 土佐光起)

  • Category

    Culture / Art - Letter & Paintings - Paintings - painting

  • Dimensions

    28.5×25.3cm(Album)

  • Accession Number

    Koo 3257

  • Location

    Japan

The paintings in this album are inspired by Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji), a novel written by Murasaki Shikibu, a Japanese woman, in the early 11th century. Tosa Mitsuoki, who is said to have painted this album, belongs to the Tosa School of painters, who inherited the tradition of yamato-e, a classical style of Japanese painting. The paintings show how Japanese of the Edo Period viewed the nobility of the Heian Period, as well as the beautiful characters of hiragana, the traditional Japanese writing system.