Scene from The Tales of Ise, Masuda Family Version 2nd Chapter “Nishi no Kyo”

This work depicts a scene from the 2nd Chapter, called “Nishi no Kyo,” in The Tales of Ise. The scene shows a man who has fallen in love with a woman in Nishi no Kyo and leaves his sweetheart’s home in the morning, immediately after the capital’s relocation to Heiankyo. The scroll’s whole surface is vividly colored gold with an adept technique, and the blind design of the ox-drawn carriage that the protagonist is about to get aboard, which was reproduced in exquisite detail, is one of the greatest attractions of the work. Tawaraya Sotatsu (1570-1643) is a painter who was active between the late Momoyama Period and the early Edo Period, and said to have run a picture shop or folding fan store by the name of Tawaraya. While creating colored paper works, folding fans, and other small paintings, he also made “Fujin Raijin zu” (Wind god and thunder god) screens, the “fusuma” door painting at Yogenin temple, and other spacious and attractive wall and door paintings. Among Sotatsu’s alleged 59 color paintings featuring The Tales of Ise that have been discovered to date.