The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 14, 2024

Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no Gorō

Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no Gorō

1779
(Japanese, 1743–1812)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
color woodblock print
Sheet: 30.6 x 14 cm (12 1/16 x 5 1/2 in.)
Gift from J. H. Wade 1920.518
Location: not on view

Description

Some Kabuki plays centered on the legend of the Soga brothers, Gorō and Jurō, who avenge their father’s murder before coming to their own demise. The setting is near Mount Fuji, part of which appears in the background. The print is likely from a diptych (a composition of two prints). The other print would have shown the rest of the mountain and Gorō’s retainer (a person retained by another to act in a military capacity), Asahina Saburō, tugging at the same pine bough as Gorō—a twist on scenes in which Saburō pulled Gorō’s armor to try to prevent him from protecting his brother.
  • Hayashi Tadamasa
    Minamoto (seal on verso)
    (Yamanaka & Co., sold to Jeptha H. Wade II)
    ?–1920
    Mr. Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857–1926], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1920–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no Gorō|url=false|author=Katsukawa Shunkō|year=1779|access-date=14 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.518