The Burning of Sanjo Palace. Heiji Monogatari Emaki, Kamakura period. Size: 16.25in X 22ft 9in. Date: 13th Century. Museum: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The Burning of Sanjo Palace shows the viewer a hand scroll of war between the Minamoto and their rivals, the Taira. This war takes place in the 13th century, around 1159. It all started when Taira warriors abducted the emperor in a nighttime attack. The viewer can see the warriors on horseback, armed with bow and arrow and dressed with an array of armor and dressings compiled of a tan, brown and black color. We can see dead warriors on the ground along with a few horses falling to the ground from maybe being shot and unable to stand. Court ladies and their young maids are trying frantically to make it to a well to get away from the fighting, but some don’t make it. To the right of the picture, we can see the grey colored smoke coming off the brightened array of orange flames from an explosion of some sort. The artist used emphasis of the bright flames to obtain our eyes on it and to show the heat and intensity of the burning. There is a principle of rhythm in the way the warriors, horses and the emperor are fleeing towards the left towards a gate in fright and fearfulness. The artist uses lines in the way he angles the wall towards the gate on the left and to show maybe a hallway that extends to the back of the picture.
The Burning of Sanjo Palace is a hand scroll that depicts a war between two opposing forces trying to kill or catch the evil emperor. Many young girls, women, horses and warriors lost their lives, either in running and trying to escape the madness or in war, fighting for what they believed and it relates to the now day war of Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers are out there putting their lives on the line, each and every day, fighting for freedom and peace.
“Those who tried to escape were shot or slain. Many, in hope of saving their lives, threw themselves in a well. Court ladies of all ranks, with their young maids, shrieking in terror, dashed out to only fall and be trampled by horses and kicked by men. Countless lives were lost”
Title: The Burning of the Sanjo Palace (Heiji Monogatari): A Japanese Scroll Painting of the Thirteenth Century.
Author: Kojiro Tomita
Source: Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 139 (Oct. 1925), pp. 49-50 + 53-55.
