The Actors Ichikawa Danjuro V and Ichikawa Ebizo IV, from a pentaptych of eleven actors celebrating the festival of the shrine of the Soga brothers
1788
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban, pentaptych (third sheet from the right)
Dimensions
31.4 × 14.5 cm (12 3/8 × 5 3/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
18933
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *The Actors Ichikawa Danuro V and Ichikawaizo IV* (1788) is a vibrant color woodblock print from the third sheet (right from the left) of a pentaptych depicting eleven kabuki actors in festive procession. Produced during Japan's Edo period, this hosoban-format work—narrow at 31.4 × 14.5 cm—celebrates the shrine festival honoring the Soga brothers, legendary figures from a popular revenge tale central to kabuki theater. Kiyonaga, a leading ukiyo-e master of the Torii school, specialized in yakusha-e (actor prints), capturing the stars' dynamic poses and elaborate costumes with ...
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...