The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Righteousness, from The Five Virtues

1767

Suzuki Harunobu

(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

Did You Know?

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.
  • Louis V. Ledoux
    by 1969–1975
    Edith Ehrman [1932–1974], New York, NY, consigned to Sotheby's for sale after her death
    1975
    (Sotheby Parke Bernet, June 17, 1975 sale, lot 29)
    1975–?
    (R. E. Lewis, Inc., California, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    ?–1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Edith Ehrman was a founder of Japan House Gallery and a collector of Japanese prints.
  • Stern, Harold P. Master Prints of Japan: Ukiyo-E Hanga. New York: Abrams, 1969. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 52, pp. 120–121
    “Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 75, no. 7, 1988, pp. 292–295. Mentioned: p. 292 25160040
  • Japan’s Floating World 日本の浮世. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 8-October 9, 2022).
    Japanese Gallery 113 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 10–June 23, 1998).
    A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Righteousness, from The Five Virtues|url=false|author=Suzuki Harunobu|year=1767|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.307