Act 1 (Daijo), from the series "The Revenge of the Loyal Retainers (Chushingura)"
c. 1834/39
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
26 × 37.7 cm (10 1/4 × 14 13/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
33750
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Hiroshige’s series of sixteen prints is the best known ukiyo-e of the Chushingura story. He increased the last act by illustrating six scenes, enhancing the dramatic impact of the end of the story. The publisher added a frame to each image, showing a repeat of Kuranosuke’s tomo-e (family crest): double commas within a circle. This was to honor the leader of the forty-seven ronin both in history and in the play. The frames also enhance the theatrical nature of each scene and make the viewer becom...
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...