Scenes from the Tale of Genji

The screen illustrates scenes from four chapters of the early eleventh-century Tale of Genji. Arranged counterclockwise the scenes are as follows: "Kiritsubo" (The Paulownia Court, Ch. 1) at the upper right; "Momiji no ga" (An Autumn Excursion, Ch. 7) at the upper left; "Tokonatsu" (Wild Carnations, Ch. 26) at the lower left; and "Wakana II" (New Herbs; Part Two, Ch. 35) at the lower right. Skillful use of landscape elements and scalloped gold bands of clouds separate and unify the four scenes. The style of the pine trees is very close to that of Kano Eitoku's second son and pupil, Kano Takanobu (1571-1618), and it seems likely that the painting is from the studio of the Kano atelier in the Keicho era (1596-1614).