Description
In this portrait associated with Ichikawa Yaozō II’s samurai role, Katsukawa Shunshō places two actors close together. The foreground figure carries a sword across the body, while the rear figure wears a bold dark-and-blue angular robe pattern. Their proximity makes this an encounter rather than a solitary likeness, with the second role left unidentified.
Made around 1765, the ink-and-color woodblock print belongs to the early period of Shunshō’s actor imagery. Its subject can be understood through the meeting of performer and assumed rank, without turning the figure into a securely identified historical warrior. The portrait preserves the theatrical act of presentation in a form that outlasts the stage event. Yaozō’s name remains the human connection through which the samurai persona is encountered.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.
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