Slow Looking At Object
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/44958
The artifact I am examining is Leaves of Wild Ginger (Aoi). It is a handscroll, made of paper, gold, and ink. It is decorated with drawings from a chapter from the Tale Of Genji, specifically, the chapter of Aoi, Genji’s wife's funeral. The way the scroll is rolled is to show the funeral procession moving towards Aoi’s funeral pyre as Genji watches from the side. The colours are quite striking, and the art is detailed, but there seems to be some damage on the edges of the art, it no longer seems complete since some people are cut off midway through. The smudging does have the added bonus of resembling treetops in certain places, almost shading some of the individuals during the funeral.
The handscroll is believed to have been created in the mid-seventeenth century in Japan, potentially used as either a storytelling aid or as a way to visualize/document this particular scene in the story. The purpose of this artifact is to show the scene of Aoi’s funeral, having been made in the Edo period. Culturally, this artifact shows how much the Tale Of Genji has left a lasting impression on Japanese citizens. From having this handscroll made roughly seven hundred years after the initial publication of the story and how it is still widely discussed today, in addition to being considered both the first historical and psychological novel. In fact, this story, and others written by the author Lady Murasaki are widely recognized and used as material across the Japanese school system.
To help illustrate my artifact, two objects of interest are shown below:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/671027
https://www.roningallery.com/education/a-closer-look-the-yugao-chapter-from-the-tale-of-genji/
My objects of interest are Yoshitoshi, The Yugao Chapter from The Tale of Genji, from the series One Hundred Views of the Moon.1886 and 源氏物語図屏風 Fifty-Four Scenes from The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari zu byōbu). The first contains an image of the evening face woman surrounded by the flowers she grows, and the other being a representation of eleventh century Kyoto. These objects are meant to help further illustrate the obsession surrounding this tale and how much artwork has come out of it. These objects also help give a representation of what was supposed to be experiencing while reading the story. It gives another level of depth to the characters and specifically with the first object. It shows us the object of Genji’s affection and how even after everything they went through to be together, their love is unattainable. It is a much larger emotional impact. With the second object, it helps visualize a different part of the story. It shows us what Kyoto might have looked like during the festival season, what it might have looked like when Genji rejected his mistress and forcefully took Oborozukiyo. It helps us visualize what Genji is experiencing, so we may experience it with him and share in what he feels, continuing to show better storytelling.