市川蝦蔵 （先の五代目市川団十郎） の穴生の里の毛虫ばゞア|The Actor Ichikawa Ebizō (formerly Danjūrō V) as Kemushi Babā of Anō Village

Art Historical Context

This striking wood print by Katsukawa'ei captures the celebrateduki actor Ichikawaizō—formerly known as the fifth Danjūrō—in the role of Kemushi Babā, the eerie “caterpillar old woman” from Anō Village. Created in 1792 during the Edo period, the image belongs to the vibrant tradition of yakusha-e, or actor prints, which functioned much like celebrity portraits for theater. Shun'ei, a leading member of the Katsukawa school, specialized in likenesses that conveyed both the performer’s distinctive features and the dramatic intensity of the stage. As the right half of a diptych, the print would originally have paired with a companion sheet to form a complete scene. Its vertical hosoban format and nishiki-e technique—employing multiple color blocks—reflect the technical sophistication of late-eighteenth-century Japanese printmaking, allowing affordable yet vividly colored images to circulate widely among townspeople. The actor’s expressive pose and the subtle of his costume highlight the theatrical flair that made kabuki a central part of Edo popular culture. Today housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this work offers a vivid window into Japan’s rich theatrical heritage and the artistic innovations that made ukiyo-e prints both documentary records and objects of beauty.

About the Artist

Katsukawa Shun'ei 勝川春英 (Japanese) · 1762 –1819

Japanese, 1762–1819