伝藤原行成筆　「荒木切」『古今和歌集』|Three Poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū), one of the Araki Fragments (Araki-gire)

Fujiwara no Yukinari (Kōzei)

11th century · Page from a booklet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

The long strands of calligraphy were inscribed without lifting the brush from the paper. Such “unbroken-line” (renmentai) brushwork, considered de rigueur for ladies of the palace during the age of The Tale of Genji (early 11th century), came to characterize much of the period’s poetic inscriptions. The “cloud paper” (kumogami) was made using indigo-dyed pulp, resulting in undulating blue or purple patterns favored as an attractive backdrop for poems.

Artist

Fujiwara no Yukinari (Kōzei)

Date

11th century

Medium

Page from a booklet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

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