Ichikawa Danjuro Fifth as Kyo no Jiro in Disguise as Dekuroku byoe the Stree Puppet-showman
ca. 1788
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
14 15/32 x 10 1/8 in. (36.8 x 25.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Francis Lathrop Collection, Purchase, Frederick C. Hewitt Fund, 1911
Accession Number
JP726
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan with Torii Kiyonaga's woodblock print, *Ichikawa Danjūrō Fifth as Kyō no Jirō in Disguise as Dekuroku Byōe the Street PuppetShowman* (ca 1788). This *usha-e* (actor print immortalizes the legendary kabuki performer Ichikawa Danūrō V, one the era's greatest *agoto* (rough stuff) specialists, mid-performance in a disguise as a humble street puppeteer. The intimate dimensions—14 1532 x 10 18 inches—make it perfect window into the theatrical spectacle of 18th-century Tokyo. Kiyonaga, a master of the Torii school renowned for theater posters and prin...
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...