Artwork Page for Benevolence, from The Five Virtues

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Benevolence, from The Five Virtues

五常の内　仁

1767

Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信

(Japanese, 1724–1770)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
color woodblock print
Measurements
Sheet: 27.6 x 20.4 cm (10 7/8 x 8 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mrs. Madeleine Hamill in memory of Lawrence Hamill 1949.124
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

This print belongs to a series of five depicting the cardinal virtues of Confucianism. In this image, a courtesan demonstrates benevolence by shaving her attendant’s neck. The other virtues are righteousness, decorum, knowledge, and fidelity. A poem at the top reads as follows: "If you would dwell on the path of the heart, / that is kind to others, / then must you not also be someone, / who suppresses even her own name?"
A vertical woodblock print depicts two women with white skin and black hair. One wears a dark green patterned kimono, leaning over a seated companion in a white and red floral robe to comb her hair. To our left, a black framed screen shows figures harvesting fields. At our right, a stand draped in white cloth sits on the floor. Behind, blooming cherry branches rise. Japanese inscriptions appear in the upper right and lower left.

Benevolence, from The Five Virtues

1767

Suzuki Harunobu

(Japanese, 1724–1770)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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