Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace is one of the renowned, detailed, and sophisticated works of art that reflects the appalling attack on the imperial palace in Japan in the 12th century. The painting represents a handscroll, a famous Asian format of paintings that allows the viewer to observe the painting and its story beginning on one side and finishing on another. However, this is not the only aspect that makes the painting unique. With the help of various techniques and styles, the unknown author allows the viewer to look at separate parts of the painting and reflect on the unchangeable brutality of human nature.
When it comes to the formal elements of the Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace, the author shows a dexterous amalgam of sharp lines, vibrant colors, and a fascinating composition of the event. To start with, the first thing that a viewer can see is that the work is organized in a way that the story in the piece of art moves from the right side to the left side. In this respect, the first minutes of the invasion can be seen in the right corner, and on the left side, it can be observed how people are fleeing the area while being viciously attacked and killed. What is more, the author repeats multiple elements in the artwork. For example, it is evident that the painter duplicated human heads on spears in several areas, as well as murderers, whose image remains consistent throughout the work.
Aside from the composition and the elements of the painting, the author incorporates vibrant hues while still maintaining the use of only a few colors. For instance, while carefully observing the piece of art, it is evident that the painter used only such colors as deep, warm red, such as maroon, and blue grey, the combination of which allows to create the dramatic spread of fire. Moreover, the author utilized such colors as ecru beige, bronze orange, and charcoal black, which allowed the painter to reflect the skin color, armor, horse fur, and the surroundings.
Furthermore, in order to increase the influence of the artwork, the author used swift and aggressive brushwork. In this case, every detail in the painting is thoroughly expressed, which allows everyone to observe the individual parts of the work. For example, the viewer can clearly see fear in animals’ eyes, rage in warriors’ eyes, and hopelessness through the body language of many civilians. Even though there is a chaotic blend of characters, it is still possible to see the reactions, shapes, and forms of the elements.
When putting all of the elements together and looking at the bigger picture, a great seizure and destruction of the Sanjo imperial palace can be observed, which represents the subject matter. The painting starts with the depiction of two people running and a single ox carriage, which is then followed by the turmoil involving a mass of people huddling and moving toward the gates (Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace, n.d.). The further parts indicate mayhem and violence of soldiers who not only destroy the local constructions but brutally injure and murder the people in the nearby area. Finally, toward the end, only a few warriors are seen, the last of whom is a cautious archer.
Considering a large compound of parts that illuminate the event from various sides, it can be regarded as a historically vital and accurate piece of art. The painter strives to show one of the pivoting events of their life. However, aside from the warfare that takes place in the work, it is possible to trace the culture and lifestyle of the people of this century. For example, such parts include ox carriages, traditional garments, such as kimonos or armor, bamboo blinds and fences, East Asian roof slopes, and gardens with such trees, as Japanese black pine. Thus, the subject matter of the painting addresses both the attack on the imperial palace in the 13th century, as well as depicting the cultural bits.
As for the style and technique of the author, it complies with those of the 13th century. For example, the art of this time is famous for such features as abstract background and vibrant foreground. In this respect, when analyzing the Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace, it becomes clear that the author paid a lot of attention to the painting of the foreground, including fire, animals, objects, and people. However, when looking at the background, it seems empty. Instead of making the entire piece fully complete, the painter filled the background with one tone.
In addition to this point, Asian painters of this time tended to use vigorous brushstrokes. As has been mentioned before, the given work shows close attention to detail. In this respect, painters cared profoundly about the spirit and meaning of the art they created. Moreover, the technique of brushwork involves the dexterous use of ink. While brushwork allows the painter to achieve the sharp lines, and create all shapes and forms, ink allows adding the beauty to work. Thus, brushstrokes and ink play a vital role in the Asian painting style of the 13th century, which also reminds the art of calligraphy, where the aim is to shift the spirit and brilliance onto the paper.
Lastly, when analyzing the overall painting, the meaning of the painting is clear-cut. Just like the purpose of the piece of art, which implies the depiction of the rebellion and attack of the palace, the meaning of the work is to illuminate the horror and cold-blood brutality of the onslaught. While an ordinary person would only look at the painting as a whole, the idea of the artist is to make the viewer pay attention to the smaller bits, which represent the escalation of human aggression. The painting depicts the pain that can be caused by human, almost bestial, atrocity caused by the coveting of power. Still, while the given painting intends to represent the events from the 12th and 13th centuries, the meaning behind the work could delve deeper into the essence of warfares. The author could also imply the permanence and similarity of the human onslaught, which allows the viewers to overlap the painting with modern times, rife with incessant wars and conflicts.
Hence, Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace incorporates a myriad of approaches. First, the artists carefully applied several vibrant hues to show the emotions and the surrounding. Then, the author implemented common techniques, including strong brushwork, ink, and clear foreground. With the help of details, the painter was allowed to convincingly represent the horrors of the attack and shed light on the moments of people fleeing or losing their heads. While observing those mentioned above, it could be said that the given work overlaps with modern reality, which could represent the meaning of the painting, incessant monstrosity, and craving for power.
Reference
Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace [Painting]. (1250-1300). Smarthistory. Web.