Description
Onoe Matsusuke appears in Shibaraku wearing deep red robes, making the costume an emphatic part of Katsukawa Shunshō’s actor image. The seated or crouched actor faces forward in a broad crimson robe carrying an immense white graphic mark. An inscription occupies the space above, while the costume’s bold surface gives the figure a striking weight that makes stillness feel theatrically emphatic.
Made around 1781, the nishiki-e print uses ink and color on paper. Shunshō preserves the relationship between actor, costume and performance, giving a temporary appearance a form that can be considered closely. The work’s appeal lies in that combination of recognition and display. Matsusuke remains the individual who embodies the role, while the striking robes give the character an outward force suited to the theater’s concentrated world of expressive appearances.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.
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