Portion of Text from the "Wisps of Cloud" (Usugumo) Chapter of The Tale of Genji (1600s-1700s): Art, History and Details

Portion of Text from the "Wisps of Cloud" (Usugumo) Chapter of The Tale of Genji (1600s-1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The calligraphy brushed on this paper, decorated with a cherry tree seen through clouds, narrates a portion of The Tale of Genji. A scene often illustrated in painted albums and later woodblock prints, it describes Genji taking leave of his love, Murasaki, to see the Akashi Lady, his other love, whose daughter, now in Murasaki's care, clings to Genji's hem as he moves to depart.

Object facts

• Title: Portion of Text from the "Wisps of Cloud" (Usugumo) Chapter of The Tale of Genji
• Date: 1600s-1700s
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Calligraphy
• Technique: album leaf; ink on dyed paper with gold
• Dimensions: 23.3 x 21.3 cm (9 3/16 x 8 3/8 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Album leaf
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1933.455

A detail from the museum

Some say The Tale of Genji is the world's first novel.

Collection credit

Edward L. Whittemore Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.