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Righteousness, from The Five Virtues

五常の内　義

1767

Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信

(Japanese, 1724–1770)
Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)
color woodblock print
Overall: 36.6 x 21.6 cm (14 7/16 x 8 1/2 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.307
Location: not on view
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The artist's signature is on the door painted with a mandarin drake in a snowy scene.

Description

Two young male courtesans enjoy reading in their quarters by candlelight. One holds an illustrated book recognizable as the drawing manual Illustrated Book of the Treasure-Bag of Sketches (絵本写宝袋), published in 1720 by Tachibana Morikuni (1679–1748). The poem at the top translates as follows:

In all things to be humble,
discern the path of reason,
and abstain from falsehood.
This is what we call righteousness.
Righteousness, from The Five Virtues

Righteousness, from The Five Virtues

1767

Suzuki Harunobu

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

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