Kiritsubo, from the series "Fifty-four Chapters of the Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari gojuyonjo)"

Kiritsubo, the opening chapter of Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, narrates the love of the emperor for the low-ranking consort Kiritsubo and the birth of her son, who will become Genji. The chapter takes its name from the Paulownia Court (Kiritsubo) in the imperial palace where she lived. In this 1852 print from Utagawa Hiroshige's series Fifty-four Chapters of the Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari gojuyonjo), the artist responds to the chapter through landscape and architectural setting rather than narrative figure work. A garden view, a glimpse of the paulownia tree that supplies the chapter's name, or a quiet corner of palace grounds typically stands in for the emotional content of the story. The series gave Hiroshige a chance to step outside his usual territory of Edo ukiyo-e landscape prints and engage with classical literature, then enjoying enormous popularity in the parodic Inaka Genji adaptations of contemporary fiction. The Art Institute of Chicago's impression preserves the refined palette and delicate linework characteristic of the set. As the opening sheet of the series it carries particular weight, introducing the visual language Hiroshige will use across the fifty-four chapters: an emphasis on garden, season, and architectural detail as bearers of literary mood, leaving direct depiction of the courtly figures to the viewer's imagination and to memory of the text.