Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting16th or early 17th century

Genji Monogatari Two-Panel Screen

attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi · 16th or early 17th century

A gold-leaf two-panel screen attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi illustrating Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji.

This screen painting illustrates scenes from Murasaki Shikibu's novel, showing its lasting importance in Japanese court art.

Ask Murasaki Shikibu about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
A gold-leaf two-panel screen painting of a Japanese landscape with green hills, stylized gold clouds, blossoming cherry trees, and a pine. Courtly figures in robes sit on the ground in the foreground, some with a seated figure in gray and others in white and red.
Attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi, Genji Monogatari two-panel screen, 16th or early 17th century. Honolulu Academy of Arts.

About this source

What it is

This is a two-panel screen painting in ink and color on gold paper, attributed to the Japanese artist Tosa Mitsuyoshi and dated to the 16th or early 17th century. It illustrates scenes from the Tale of Genji, the novel written by Murasaki Shikibu. It is held at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Why it matters

Murasaki Shikibu wrote her novel around the year 1000 at the Japanese imperial court. Centuries later, painters such as Tosa Mitsuyoshi were still creating lavish works based on her story, showing how it remained a central subject for Japanese court art long after her death.

Look closer

  • What mood do the gold clouds and blossoming trees create in this painting?
  • Why might an artist attributed to a famous workshop choose to illustrate this story?
  • What does the setting tell you about the kind of life being depicted?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Murasaki Shikibu on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Murasaki Shikibu sources

Meet the AI Murasaki Shikibu →
Fragment of a decorated handscroll page with black calligraphic Japanese script running in vertical columns on gold-flecked paper with dark green and gold scattered patches and faint grass-like brushstrokes. A printed caption in the lower right reads in Japanese.Book

Primary source

The Tale of Genji

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1010

Open double-page spread of a Japanese manuscript with gold and silver flecks scattered on brown-orange and dark mauve paper. Black cursive kana calligraphy runs in vertical columns on both pages.Book

Primary source

Kokin Wakashū

Ki no Tsurayuki and compilers · c. 905-920

Diary entry

Primary source

The Diary of Lady Murasaki

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1008–1010

Scan of a page of handwritten Japanese cursive calligraphy in brown ink on pale paper, written in vertical columns. This is the final part of the Tosa Nikki diary, copied by Fujiwara no Teika in the 13th century.Diary entry

Primary source

Tosa Nikki

Ki no Tsurayuki · 935 (copy 13th century)

Photograph of the front cover of a Japanese book bound in pale green-grey paper. A vertical cream label on the cover bears brush-written Japanese characters and a small seal-like stamp appears at lower left. A color calibration chart and a metric ruler are along the edges of the image.Book

Secondary source

Eiri Genji Monogatari

Yamamoto Shunshō · 1650

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Murasaki Shikibu now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions