Nagisa Palace from the Tales of Ise Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)

Nagisa Palace from the Tales of Ise

『伊勢物語』「渚の院」図屏風

late 1800s

Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真

(Japanese, 1807–1891)

Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)

Two-panel folding screen; ink, color, lacquer, and gold on silk

Image: 175.3 x 190.5 cm (69 x 75 in.); Each side: 162.8 x 88.6 cm (64 1/8 x 34 7/8 in.)

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1981.2

Location: not on view

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Description

This screen depicts an episode from the Tales of Ise, a 10th-century collection of poems and associated narratives in which the main character composes the following poem while drinking sake and viewing cherry blossoms: If, in this world of ours / All the cherry blossoms / Disappeared / The heart of spring / Might find peace.

Our hero relaxes on a shoulder rest, gazing at the flowers, his sake dish before him on a lacquered stand. A plump boy attendant monitors the sake dishes, a ewer at the ready. An associate sits with paper, ink, and brush, poised to record poems.