The Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô II (1689-1758)
Katsukawa Shunsho
1788 (inscription 1829)
Medium
Hanging scroll; Ink and colors on silk
Dimensions
81.5 × 31 cm (32 1/8 × 12 3/16 in.); Overall with mount and knobs: 170.8 × 50.2 cm (67 1/4 × 19 3/4 in.)
Classification
hanging scroll
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
35689
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This work depicts the Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō II (1689–1758) performing in a revenge play as Soga Gorō, the younger of two brothers. Here, he sharpens an arrow as he plots the death of the man who caused his father to commit ritual suicide (seppuku). Decades after the painting was completed, one of the actor’s descendants, Ichikawa Danjūrō VII, added an inscription of appreciation.