岩佐又兵衛筆 『平家物語』 平維盛 北の方惜別図|“Taira no Koremori’s Farewell,” from The Tale of the Heike (Heike monogatari)
ca. 1640
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold and silver on paper
Dimensions
Image: 23 1/4 × 14 3/4 in. (59 × 37.5 cm) Overall with mounting: 55 1/2 × 18 15/16 in. (141 × 48.1 cm) Overall with knobs: 55 1/2 × 21 1/4 in. (141 × 54 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Mary and James G. Wallach Foundation Gift and Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions Fund, 2019
Accession Number
2019.218
Art Historical Context
This exquisite hanging scroll, created around 1640 by the Edo-period artist Iwasa Matabei ( known as Katsumochi captures a heart-wrenching moment fromThe Tale of the He* (*Heike monogatari Japan’s epic 13th-century chronicle of thepei War (1180–1185). Titled “Taira no Korem’s Farewell,” it depicts the Taira clan general Koremori bidding a tearful goodbye to his wife before his flight into exile and eventual by drowning. The *Heike monogatari*—recited by blind monks with biwa lutes for centuries—mourns the rise and fall of the Taira family, embodying Buddhist themes of impermanence (*mujō*) tha...