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Secondary sourcePainting1765

Murasaki Shikibu, Woodblock Print by Komatsuken

Komatsuken · 1765

An 18th-century imagined portrait of Murasaki Shikibu in courtly dress.

This imagined 18th-century portrait reflects how Murasaki Shikibu was remembered as a celebrated writer.

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Japanese woodblock print of a seated woman in a salmon-colored kimono with red maple-leaf patterns, holding a yellow fan, with long black hair and a red-and-white layered robe beside her. Black calligraphy in Japanese runs across the top, and red seals appear at the lower left.
Komatsuken, Murasaki Shikibu, 1765.

About this source

What it is

This woodblock print, made in 1765 by the artist Komatsuken, shows a seated woman in a patterned kimono holding a fan, with Japanese calligraphy and seals above her.

Why it matters

Made many centuries after Murasaki Shikibu's lifetime, this print is part of a long tradition of imagined portraits honoring her as a celebrated writer. Such images shaped how later generations pictured her, even though no contemporary portrait of her survives.

Look closer

  • What details suggest the artist wanted to show elegance and refinement?
  • Why do you think so many later artists created imagined portraits of Murasaki?
  • What might the calligraphy and seals tell us about how this print was meant to be read or valued?

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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