The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Benevolence, from The Five Virtues

1767

Suzuki Harunobu

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

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?"
  • ?–1949
    Mrs. Madeleine Henderson Hamill [1876–1948], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1949–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Japan’s Floating World 日本の浮世. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 8-October 9, 2022).
  • {{cite web|title=Benevolence, from The Five Virtues|url=false|author=Suzuki Harunobu|year=1767|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.124