Torige Ryujo-no-zu Byobu(Beauties Beneath Trees)
Torige Ryujo-no-zu Byobu (Beauties Beneath Trees)
Nara period, 8th century
Ink and color on paper
Height 136 cm; Width 56 cm (each panel)
(Shosoin, Nara Prefecture)
This is part of one of many screens preserved at Shosoin. At present its six panels are separated, each showing a woman dressed in Tang-style costume who is next to a tree and is either standing or seated on a rock. These paintings are done on paper which has been covered with a preliminary coat of white pigment. Except from coloring applied to exposed parts of the body, black ink was used to outline the hair, details of the clothing, and the trees and rocks. Originally, bird feathers were attached to the surface, filling the space within the outlines. The very delicate and precise drawing, based on models of beautiful women in Chinese paintings from the zenith of the Tang dynasty, is a masterpiece of the Nara period in Japan.
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