Lady Murasaki Shikibu

Catalog note / 解説

Lady Murasaki (Murasaki Shikibu), the author of The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari), is shown here in Edo period clothing. Seated at a desk on the open veranda of Ishiyama Temple, she is depicted composing her famous novel. Her kimono is decorated with short phrases in grass script including the name ""Yukihira"" on her sleeve--an oblique allusion to the exile of the courtier Yukihira and his affair with the saltwater carriers Matsukaze and Murasame. A parody of this incident is depicted in the background, suggesting that Lady Murasaki is pondering the twelfth Suma chapter of her novel, which is based on the Yukihira story. This is perhaps the final page from an unidentified album of twelv…