  About the Artwork
  
  
  This folding screen illustrates a location in The Tale of Genji, a favorite work of literature in Japan for more than a thousand years — and still popular today. Written  by the Japanese noblewoman Lady Murasaki in 1021 and considered the world’s first novel, the story focuses on the life and many love affairs of Prince Hikaru Genji, seen on the right, wearing white and seated on a dark green mat.

The screen painting represents Genji’s Rokujo estate, where he built seasonal gardens and living quarters for four of his romantic partners. Genji sits with his favorite, Lady Murasaki — wearing gold-adorned robes — in her spring garden. This space includes its own sets of folding screens.

At left, Lady Hanachirusato sits in her pavilion in her summer garden. The decoration of her robe resonates with the object she holds — a folding fan, to keep her cool in the hot summer air.

Though Japanese folding screens typically appear in pairs, the location of the companion to this screen is not known. It almost certainly would have represented the autumn and winter gardens of Genji’s estate.
  
  
  Title
  Spring and Summer Palace Gardens, from The Tale of Genji
  
  
  Artwork Date
  17th century
  
  Artist
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  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Japanese
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  Japanese
  
  
  Medium
  Six-panel folding screen; ink, color paint, and gold on paper
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall (fully open): 67 × 141 inches (170.2 cm × 3 m 58.1 cm)
  Installed (with 40&quot; wide angles.): 67 × 121 3/4 × 14 1/4 inches (170.2 × 309.2 × 36.2 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  Asian Art
  
  
  Credit
  City of Detroit Purchase
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  27.541
  
  
  Copyright
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