Description:
hosoban; yakusha-e; benizuri-e
Label Text:
Based on the iconography of this print, it is clear that this scene is taken from the play "Musume Dōjōji," a tale of a jealous princess who transforms into a dragon in order to infiltrate the Dōjō Temple compound in pursuit of Anchin, a handsome — and celibate — priest. To escape her, he hides in the temple compound's bell, which she, still in dragon form, coils herself around. Due to her fiery breath, the bell becomes heated and Anchin is burned to death inside of it. The scene depicted here by Kiyotsune takes place at the beginning of the play, when a new bell is to be consecrated, the old one having been destroyed by the princess-as-dragon. To celebrate the new bell, a young girl, the shirabyōshi dancer Hanako, is granted permission to enter the temple compound and perform her signature dance, for which she dons the tall gold hat seen here. Eventually, after changing costumes nine times during the dance, with each iteration growing increasingly menacing, Hanako reveals herself to be the spirit of the dragon, scaring the monks and instigating a battle scene. In folklore, dragons are said to shed their skin nine times, hence the number of costume changes.
This print is signed at lower-right "Torii Kiyotsune hitsu" ('painted by Torii Kiyotsune'). The actor and his role are identified at middle-upper left. Another impression, held by the Boston MFA (acc. no. 21.5686), bears the mark of an unidentified publisher.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2005.307 |
