Explore the Style and composition of this artwork, Heiji Monogatari Emaki.
The pictorial style of the Heiji Monogatari Emaki is Yamato-e, a Japanese painting movement (as opposed to Chinese styles) that peaked during the Heian and Kamakura periods. Artists of the Yamato-e style, a colourful and decorative everyday form of art, expressed in all their subjects the sensitivity and character of the people of the Japanese archipelago.The work belongs mainly to the otoko-e ("painting of men") genre of Yamato-e, typical of epic tales or religious legends, by emphasising the freedom of ink lines and the use of light colours leaving portions of paper bare. The dynamism of the lines is particularly evident in the crowds of people and soldiers. However, and as in the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba, it is combined with the onna-e (or "painting of women") court style of Yamato-e, especially in the choice of more vivid colours for certain details such as clothing, armour and flames. The scene of the fire is also reminiscent of that of the Ōtenmon gate in the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba, due to its similar composition. The colour in the work is applied mainly using the tsukuri-e technique characteristic of onna-e: a first sketch of the outlines is made, then the colour is added in solid form, and finally the outlines are redrawn in ink over the paint. This mixture of onna-e and otoko-e, tangible in other works such as the Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki, is typical of the emakimono style from the beginning of the Kamakura period, with rich colours using bright pigments alongside more pastel shades, while the lines remain dynamic and expressive, but less free than in older otoko-e paintings. The military in power at the time particularly appreciated colourful and dynamic historical and military chronicles.
A new desire for realism, notable in several aspects of the Heiji Monogatari Emaki, also marked the art of portrayal of Kamakura warriors: in this work, the combat scenes are expressed in a raw and brutal way, showing the suffering and death in the glowing flames and blood. In particular, the painting of the attack on the Sanjō Palace depicts soldiers slaughtering aristocrats and displaying their heads on top of lances. Christine Shimizu underlines the realism in the representation of the characters: "The painter approaches the faces, the attitudes of the characters as well as the movements of the horses with a surprising sense of realism, proving his ability to incorporate the techniques of nise-e in complex scenes" (nise-e was a realistic style of portraiture in vogue at the time). The realistic tendency is also found in most of the alternative versions of the work. On the other hand, the sets are most often minimalist to keep the reader's attention on the action and the suspense, without distraction.The emakimono is also distinguished by two types of classical emakimono arts composition techniques. On the one hand, continuous compositions make it possible to represent several scenes or events in the same painting, without a precise border, in order to favour a fluid pictorial narration; this is the case with the first or Sanjō Palace fire scroll and the fourth or Battle of Rokuhara scroll. On the other hand, the alternating compositions bring together calligraphy and illustrations, the paintings then aiming to capture particular moments of the story; this is the case with the other scrolls as well as the copies of the now lost Battle of Taiken Gate scroll. The painter thus manages to vary with accuracy the rhythm of the narration throughout the emakimono, for example making passages of strong tensions succeed more peaceful scenes, such as the arrival of Emperor Nijō among the Taira after his perilous flight.
The long painted sequences with continuous compositions, sometimes interspersed with short calligraphy, make possible the intensification of the painting to its dramatic climax, in the remarkable scene of the fire at the Sanjō Palace: the reader first discovers the flight of the Emperor's troops, then more and more violent fighting leading up to the confusion around the fire – the summit of the composition where the density of the characters only fades in front of the ample volutes of smoke – and then finally the scene calms down with the encirclement of the Emperor's chariot and a soldier who moves away peacefully towards the left. The transition to the scene of the fire is effected by means of a wall of the Palace, which divides the emakimono by long diagonals over almost its entire height, creating an effect of suspense and different narrative spaces with great fluidity. For art historians, the mastery of composition and rhythm, evident in continuous paintings, as well as the care given to colours and lines, make this scroll one of the most admirable to have survived from the Kamakura period.The emakimono also displays some innovations of composition for the groups of characters, by arranging them in triangles or rhombuses. This approach makes it possible to take advantage of the reduced height of the scrolls to represent battles by interweaving geometric shapes according to the needs of the artist.
Kamakura Kamakura period Rokuhara ink Sanjō Heian Heiji Emperor Nijō Yamato-e Ōtenmon Christine Shimizu Taira emakimono left Ban Dainagon Ekotoba Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki Nijō nise-e