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Secondary sourcePainting

Murasaki Shikibu, Guimet Museum Object BG3566

A museum painted illustration likely depicting Murasaki Shikibu, seated in layered robes with handwritten characters nearby.

This illustration is believed to depict Murasaki Shikibu in traditional court dress.

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Painted illustration on aged paper of a woman with long black hair seated among layered robes in pale yellow, red, and white patterns, with a folding screen or fan of blue-and-white floral panels beside her. Handwritten characters appear at the upper right.
Painted illustration, likely depicting Murasaki Shikibu. Guimet Museum, object BG3566. Photograph by Marie-Lan Nguyen, 2024.

About this source

What it is

This is a painted illustration on paper held in the Guimet Museum collection, believed to show Murasaki Shikibu. It depicts a woman with long black hair seated among richly patterned robes, with a folding screen or fan nearby and handwritten characters in the corner.

Why it matters

Images like this reflect how later artists imagined Murasaki Shikibu, often drawing on traditions of Heian court dress and setting. Such depictions shape popular memory of historical figures even when little is known about their true appearance.

Look closer

  • What details in the clothing and setting suggest this is meant to represent a Heian-era court woman?
  • Why might museums describe such images only tentatively as showing a certain person?
  • What might the handwritten characters tell us if we could read them?

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.

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Diary entry

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Ki no Tsurayuki · 935 (copy 13th century)

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Eiri Genji Monogatari

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