Description:
aiban tate-e; nishiki-e
Label Text:
In the top panel, two bats, one carrying an umbrella and a scarf and the other a pair of swords, parody the fifth act of the Chūshingura, a story about the 47 Rōnin, a famous group of samurai left masterless after the assassination of their leader. This act features the murder of Yoichibei by Sadakuro during a thunderstorm. In the lower panel, a young woman and a man tumble forth from inside the bell at Dōjōji, a Buddhist temple. According to the folktale, the monk Anchin hides inside the temple’s bell to escape the unwanted advances of the scorned woman Kiyohime, who turns into a dragon-like demon. She chases after Anchin, wraps her body around the bell, and melts, killing both Anchin and herself. These prints are indicative of a style of caricature that Yoshitoshi used to reinvent historical and mythical subjects, simultaneously maintaining and revitalizing the quality of old Edo culture at a time of sociopolitical uncertainty in Japan. Yoshitoshi is known for his fascination with the fantastic, the bizarre, and the macabre, as well as his dramatic use of line, clearly seen here.
- BB, ed., 2015
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2005.919 |
