In this study of the political thrust behind some of the most important officially sponsored art of the early Tokugawa, Karen Gerhart takes as her focus the heyday of the rule of the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu. She analyzes aspects of painting, architecture and sculpture created expressly under the patronage of Iemitsu at three major monuments - the castles an Nijo and Nagoya and the sumptuous decoration of the great Tokugawa mausoleum, Nikko Toshogu. In highlighting key examples of artistic production, Gerhart brings to the fore significant themes and issues that exemplify political art in the first half of the 17th century.