Genji Monogatari Emaki

Timeline

1. c. 1120–1140Heian-kyō · YamashiroDuring the Insei period, nobles commissioned word-scrolls and pictures for each chapter of the Tale of Genji, completed through the division of labor between calligraphers and painters. Compositions unfold romantic and political plots in roofless interiors seen from above, with color and paper changes matching season and psychology, epitomizing Heian painting grammar.
2. c. 1140–1250Heian-kyō · YamashiroOnce completed, the scrolls circulated and were divided among the court and the Sekke houses. War and divided collections led to the loss of most chapters, leaving only a dozen or so picture sections and several word-scrolls—still enough to prove that a complete visual project of the Genji existed by the 12th century.
3. 1901Nagoya / Tokyo · JapanModern connoisseurship identified the surviving fragments as 12th-century originals and designated them National Treasures, divided between the Tokugawa Art Museum and the Goto Art Museum. It is the single work most often cited in discussions of Yamato-e, monogatari painting, and the origins of Japanese visual narrative.