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context: painting > early painting > court painting
Lotus Sutra
|
the Heike Nogyo, or Lotus Sutra |
Frankly this might better belong under Buddhist paintings. But it seems to me that despite the Buddhist subject matter, everything else puts it in this area. It was commissioned for aristocratic showing off; it was largely aimed at a secular audience - ladies of the court in particular. Its art style is that of the Genji scrolls rather than of Buddhist art. The luxuriousness is court, not temple - we see here an early example of the kirigane technique of using gold leaf, and in addition there is gold and silver dust, applied by flicking from a brush. This is also an example of one side of a division that started in this period: onna-e was feminine painting, painting about emotion expressed subtly through static, codified images, actions symbolised rather than shown. This, and the Genji scrolls, are in that category. Otoko-e was masculine painting, action-packed and energetic - a good example would be the Buddhist Shigisan Engi scrolls.