Description
Katsukawa Shunshō presents Onoe Matsusuke’s samurai role upright beside a patterned balustrade. A broad sleeve expands the richly robed body, while the turned head gives the standing figure a sideways attention. The architecture provides a firm horizontal structure against which the costume and face become the portrait’s active elements.
Made around 1782, the ink-and-color woodblock print belongs to the Edo period. The portrait’s interest lies in the relation between recognizable performer and assumed rank. Its title supplies a clan association but does not establish every detail of the surrounding play, so the image need not be read as a full historical scene. Shunshō’s work instead concentrates on the theatrical act of embodying a samurai identity.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.
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