Minamoto no Nakakuni Visits Lady Kogō

late 1600s

Kiyohara Yukinobu

Kiyohara Yukinobu (Japanese, 1643–1682)

Japanese Art

Minamoto no Nakakuni Visits Lady Kogō, late 1600s. Kiyohara Yukinobu (Japanese, 1643–1682). Triptych of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk; overall: 180 x 59.4 cm (70 7/8 x 23 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Harley C. Lee and Elizabeth K. Lee 1992.77 An aristocrat rides up a path to a residence where a woman plays a koto, a stringed instrument. The central composition is flanked on the right by a day-lit spring scene, and on the left by a nocturnal autumnal scene. The triptych presents an episode from The Tale of the Heike in which Minamoto no Nakakuni is sent by the emperor to look for Lady Kogō. The Tale of the Heike chronicles the conflict between the Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) families in the late 12th century.

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Kanō Yukinobu
Classification: Painting
Formatted Medium: Triptych of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk
Medium: triptych, hanging, scrolls, ink, color, silk
Dimensions: Overall: 180 x 59.4 cm (70 7/8 x 23 3/8 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: 款記「清原氏女雪信筆」/「清原女」朱文八角印 Translation: Brushed by the woman Yukinobu of the surname Kiyohara/ sealed: the woman Kiyohara (eight-pointed, red) Remark: lower right of center, lower right of right, lower left of left
Departments: Japanese Art
Accession Number: 1992.77
Credit Line: Bequest of Harley C. Lee and Elizabeth K. Lee
Exhibitions: Selected Acquisitions
Rights Statement: CC0