Minamoto no Nakakuni Visits Lady Kogō
1604
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1604
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Minamoto no Nakakuni Visits Lady Kogō is a 1604 unspecified by Kiyohara Yukinobu, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man on horseback climbs a winding path toward a house where a woman plucks a koto. To the right, cherry blossoms bloom under blue sky; to the left, autumn leaves fall under moonlight. The three panels tell one story. This painting shows a moment from *The Tale of the Heike*, a 12th-century epic. The artist was a rare woman working in Edo-period Japan, and she signed her name in bold red—a quiet claim in a field dominated by men. To see more quiet power in small details, look up *japan, edo period (1615–1868)*.
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.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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