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Act 11, Part 1: The Approach to the Night Attack (Juichidanme ichi, yochi oshiyose), from the series "The Revenge of the 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

The story of The Forty-seven Samurai is based on events that occurred at the beginning of the 18th century and is one of the longest plays in the Kabuki repertoire that is still performed. The drama recounts the death of Enya Hangan, who was forced to commit suicide by the evil Moronao, and the revenge sought by Hangan’s loyal retainers for their lord’s death. In the scene depicted here (which occurs toward the end of the play), the forty-seven loyal samurai are crossing Ryogoku Bridge on their way to Moronao’s mansion where they will eventually slay him. In the foreground, two of the samurai stand guard in a boat.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

Title

Act 11, Part 1: The Approach to the Night Attack (Juichidanme ichi, yochi oshiyose), from the series "The Revenge of the 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

23.1 × 35.4 cm (9 1/16 × 13 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1928.344

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/60390/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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