Mountain Moon After Rain: Soga Goro Tokimune

Artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年 (Japanese, 1839–1892)

Date1885

Mediumwoodblock print; ink, color, embossing, and burnishing on paper

DimensionsOban: 33 × 22.6 cm (13 × 8 7/8 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineAlexander H. Bullock Fund

Terms

Object number2002.187

DescriptionThe story of the Soga brothers was a popular subject for theatrical, literary, and pictorial dramatization. Itō Sukenari Jūrō (1172¬–93) and his reckless younger brother Itō Tokimune Gorō (1174–93), pictured here, sought revenge against Kudō Suketsune for their father’s death. Moments before enacting their revenge, Tokimune heard a cuckoo, which was believed to call spirits into the next life. The background gradation from brown to blue evokes the rising dawn mist as the crescent moon disappears behind a bank of clouds. Tokimune rolls up his sleeves to prepare for the final strike, which will result in his own death.
Label TextThe story of the Soga brothers was a popular subject for theatrical, literary, and pictorial dramatization. Itō Sukenari Jūrō (1172¬–93) and his reckless younger brother Itō Tokimune Gorō (1174–93), pictured here, sought revenge against Kudō Suketsune for their father’s death. Moments before enacting their revenge, Tokimune heard a cuckoo, which was believed to call spirits into the next life. The background gradation from brown to blue evokes the rising dawn mist as the crescent moon disappears behind a bank of clouds. Tokimune rolls up his sleeves to prepare for the final strike, which will result in his own death.ProvenanceThe Katie and Scott McDonald Collection, Rochester, NY

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