Scenes from Kyoto and its suburbs

"Scenes from Kyoto and its suburbs" ( Japanese 洛 中 洛 外 図 図 ) (also Kyoto and its suburbs or Scenes from the capital and its suburbs ) - painting on a six- leaf screen by an unknown Japanese artist of the 17th century in the genus of rakugai rakutai . The work was done using ink, paint, gold and paper. The work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ^[1] .

Scenes from Kyoto and its suburbs . XVII century

洛 中 洛 外 図 屏風

156.1 × 352.2 cm

Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York

( inv. )

Japanese paintings , in particular folding screens, which are panoramic views of Kyoto and its suburbs, were called rakugai rakugai ( п 中 洛 外 図 屏風 ) , which literally means "the capital from the inside, the capital from the outside" ^{[2] [1]} . The first Rakutu rakugai appeared in the 20s of the 16th century and reached the peak of their popularity in the first half of the 17th century ^[2] .

The screen could be quite well preserved, including iridescent background gold and bright colors ^[2] . Houses, temples, buildings, streets and human figures are built in a clearly organized scheme ^[2] . On most of the screens that have survived in our time with views of Kyoto, as on this screen by an unknown author, the city is divided into eastern and western parts. On the right side of the screen is the eastern half of the city where the Gion Summer Festival takes place annually in mid-July, and on the left side of the screen is the western half and Nijo Castle ^[1] . Near the Nijo castle, a cart accompanied by a procession is depicted; the author signed that Tokugawa was going to the palace (it was not established whether any particular historical visit was shown here) ^[2] . The castle itself is depicted in a state before the perestroika that took place in 1626. In the middle of the right part of the image, the Kamo River flows, separating the city and the suburbs. Below the river, the Tasegawa Canal, created in 1611, flows to the west. In the upper right corner of the right side is visible Fusimi castle, destroyed in 1622. Important buildings are signed. On the painting (from both parts) there are temples of Tofuku-ji , Kiyomizu-dera , Yasaka , Tion-in , Sanjusangen-do , Tenryu-ji , Kinkaku-ji , Daitoku-ji , Kitano-Tammangu , Hoko-ji , built by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi , Kyoto Imperial Palace ^[2] . Next to Hoko-ji is another building connected with Toyotomi Hideyoshi - an earthen mound with a stone stupa , signed as Mimi-dzuka , supposedly it was built in order to put the ears and noses of the enemy soldiers that the Hideyoshi army brought from the expedition to Korea ^[2] . On the Kamo shore there is another burial structure - a small pyramid where about thirty rival rivals Hidetsugi, Hideyoshi’s adopted son (in 1595 Hideyoshi forced Hidetsugi to commit suicide for a dissolute way of life, were buried by his servants and kept women) ^[2] . Also depicted is the mausoleum where Hideyoshi himself rests. In the quarters of the Imperial Palace, richly dressed spectators watch a theater performance ^[2] . In other parts of the screen, festivities of the Gion festival, a performance of the Kabuki theater for the less affluent, a public lecture on the history of Buddhism , horse races near the Kamigamo temple are shown ^[2] .

The presence of the Tasegawa Canal and Fushimi Castle indicate that the painting was created between 1611 and 1622. Some stylistic details of the landscape may indicate that the artist studied at the Cano School of Painting ^[2] .