菱川和翁筆　大君 「橋姫」『源氏物語』|Princess Ogimi from the "Bridge Maiden" (Hashihime) chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari)

Hishikawa Waō

early 18th century · Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk · Asian Art

In this scene from the forty-fifth chapter of The Tale of Genji, Kaoru—officially known as Genji’s son, although he is the product of an illicit affair between Genji’s wife and a young nobleman—pays a visit to the household of a prince in Uji. There he falls in love with the prince’s daughter Ōigimi. The young girl has been playing her biwa (a lutelike instrument), and she raises the plectrum in the air as if to summon the moon, which appears from behind a cloud. The Edo-based artist Waō specialized in ukiyo-e paintings of beautiful women as well as woodblock prints. Few facts about his life are available, and he is believed by some to have been the same person as the far better-known artist and poet Hanabusa Itchō (1652–1724).

Artist

Hishikawa Waō

Date

early 18th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015