A Modern Version of Ushiwakamaru Serenading Princess Joruri
c. 1785
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
Dimensions
39.0 × 26.1 cm (right sheet), 38.5 × 25.4 cm (center sheet), 38.5 × 26.0 cm (left sheet)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
21737
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *A Modern Version of Ushakamaru Serenading Joruri* (c. 1785) is a captivating color woodblock print triptych from Japan's Edo period, reimagining a legendary tale from the epic *Heike Monogat*. The scene depicts the young warrior Ushiwakamaru (Minamoto no Yoshits) charming Princess Joruri aboard a boat under the moonlight—a romantic episode popularized in kabuki theater. Kiyonaga, a master of the Torii, transforms this classical story into a "modern" vision, blending historical drama with the fashionable world of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"). Printed on large ob...
About the Artist
Torii Kiyonaga · 1752–1815
Torii Kiyonaga, born Sekiguchi Shinsuke in 1752 in Uraga, Sagami Province, was the son of an Edo bookseller who owned tenements near a bustling fish market. At age 14 in 1765, he began his apprenticeship under Torii Kiyomitsu, the third-generation head of the prestigious Torii school of ukiyo-e, renowned for kabuki theater illustrations and signage. Adopted into the Torii family, Kiyonaga succeede...