Library Item

Section from Theatres of the East, a Japanese handscroll painting

1720

Both Chinese and Japanese artists of this period perfected the art of a linear narrative on a handscroll, to be unrolled in sections from right to left, in segments of approximately 60cm wide. Onlookers would return to the artwork to view the picture as the sections revealed at regular intervals over a period of time. The story develops in time and depicts simultaneous activities in a perspective view. (It is thought that the sections in this case were larger, as depicted here at around 120cm.)

The handscroll was given to Edinburgh Central Library as a gift from the Dyer family. It was painted by Furuyama Moromasa and it is signed 'Nihon eshi Furuyama Moromasa e' [Picture by Furuyama Moromasa, painter of Japan']. He is reputed to have been the son of Furuyama Moroshige (Moronobu's senior pupil). Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-1694) was the leading artist in Edo (Tokyo) and is regarded as the founder of the school of 'Ukiyo-e', known to the west as Pictures of the Floating World - scenes from the theatre and the life of courtesans.