Onoe Matsusuke as Usui Sadamitsu
Medium
One of a triptych of color woodblock prints
Dimensions
31 × 14.5 cm
Classification
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift from J. H. Wade
Accession Number
1921.314.b
Tags
male
About this artwork
This print is part of a triptych (a composition of three prints) that shows actors portraying three of the four famed protectors of imperial regent Minamoto Yorimitsu (948?–1021). Collectively, they are known as his Shitennō (四天王), or “Four Heavenly Kings,” after the Buddhist deities who guard the four cardinal directions. The characters are indicated by the large house crests on their robes. The actor Onoe Matsusuke I’s identity is revealed by a fan with the ideograph matsu (松), or “pine,” tuck...