Posted by John Fiorillo on February 23, 2001 at 04:51:54:
In Reply to: Who is this artist? posted by L.C.S. on February 21, 2001 at 21:00:15:
LCS and Guy,
Just to be sure this print is more fully identified, I should point out that while Guy is indeed correct about the artist who designed this picture (the signature and seal read ‘Shunman ga’ and ‘Shunman’, respectively), this particular impression is a reproduction and is not from the 1780s.
The original design is the center sheet of a triptych, which depicts a ‘mitate’ (analogy) of women playing blind-man’s bluff with Yuranosuke, the valiant and cunning hero of the 47 Rônin (he is shown on the right-hand sheet groping toward the geisha of the Ichiriki Teahouse). It is, in effect, a modern dress version of Act 7 from the 'Kanadehon chûshingura' drama ("Storehouse of the Loyal Retainers"), when Yuronosuke fakes drunkenness and dissoluteness to dispel the worries of his enemies while he and his ‘rônin’ plot their revenge against Moronao, the evil court samurai who had taunted their master (Enya Hangan) and forced him into a violent act (stabbing and wounding Moronao), which necessitated his ritual suicide (‘seppuku’) and thus resulted in his retainers’ masterless status ('rônin' or "wave man").
John