Gilt Portrait of a Japanese Lady

Most prominently appearing in the first few scenes of the play and when contrasted with its twin in the shipping crate, Darius' gilt portrait of a Japanese lady is one of his personal favorites in his art collection, a piece he has never been able to sell or trade. When he first came across the painting, in an illicit dealing with art smugglers, he was instantly drawn to it. In her appearances as a Heian-era lady, Dr. Hearn is made to resemble the portrait, and at the end of the play, Utagawa's art comes together to form a version of the same image.

Transcript

The first occurrence of the pillow book at the center of 36 Views is in the form of a "transcript" John claims to have created by translated the Japanese text from "Polaroids" of the "original" manuscript. Before the dubiousness...