Taira no Kiyomori Haunted by Spectres

This print depicts the same scene as the print to the right [EAX.4855], where the twelfth-century warrior Taira no Kiyomori is haunted by the ghosts of the enemies he has ruthlessly killed during his lifetime. Here Kiyomori (depicted as the Osaka-based kabuki actor Nakamura Utaemon IV (1769-1852), who performed this role in the first month of 1845) stands on the veranda of his palace looking out over his snow-covered garden. In his vision the trees, hillocks and even the lanterns have been transformed into skulls and skeletons.

Details

Title

Taira no Kiyomori Haunted by Spectres
Artist/maker

Utagawa Hiroshige I (1797 - 1858) (designer)
Associated people

Ibaya Kyūbei (c. 1804 - 1869) (publisher)

Taira no Kiyomori (1118 - 1181) (subject)

Nakamura Utaemon 4 (1796 - 1852) (subject)
Associated place

Tōkyō (place of creation)

Tōkyō (place of publication)

Fukuhara Palace (subject)
Date

1843 - 1845
Edo Period (1600 - 1868)
Material and technique

woodblock print, with bokashi (tonal gradation)
Material index

paper
Technique index

colour woodcut
Object type

triptych print
Dimensions

34.7 x 76.4 cm estimated (height x width)
No. of items

1
Credit line

Presented by Mrs E. M. Allan and Mr and Mrs H. N. Spalding from the Herbert H. Jennings Collection, 1952.
Museum location

not on display
Museum department

Eastern Art
Accession no.

EAX.4846