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Act 5 (Godanme), from the series "Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Chushingura)"

A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of color woodblock print; oban.

Date:

c. 1834/39

Artist:

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重
Japanese, 1797-1858

About this artwork

This is a fictional episode added to heighten the play’s suspense. During a heavy rainstorm in the mountains near Kyoto, an old peasant kneels and begs for mercy. On the right, Sadakuro, the son of Kudayu and a spy for Kira, is shown shabbily dressed in black, carrying a tattered umbrella. Sadakuro snatches the old man’s purse from the cord around his neck and kills him with the sword. The heavy rain in the image identifies the early date of the print, for printers failed to use the carved woodblocks that added rain to the image in later editions of the print.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

Title

Act 5 (Godanme), from the series "Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Chushingura)"

Place

Japan (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1829–1844

Medium

Color woodblock print; oban

Dimensions

25.5 × 38.3 cm (10 1/16 × 15 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Frederick W. Gookin Collection

Reference Number

1939.1327

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/33762/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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