Japanese Print

This 1847 print is from the series called "Seichû gishi den, 誠忠義士傳", stories of the true loyalty of faithful samurai. It is the famous story of the 47 ronins: In 1702, Lord Asano of Akō was tricked by Kira Kozukenosuke Yoshinaka into shooting his wakizashi into the shogun's palace, for which he was forced to commit suicide, and his domain was confiscated. Forty-seven of daimyo Asano's servants, who were now ronin, planned and successfully carried out an attack on Kira's palace. Kira's head was severed with the same tanto Lord Asano used to commit seppuku. The 46 surviving ronin were forced to perform seppuku showing their unwavering loyalty to the master and lord. They represent in the Edo period the ideal values of the samurai. This print is one of them, Miura Jiroemon Kanetsune (三浦治朗右衛門包常). Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1797-1861), 歌川国芳, Son of a silk dyer, he was born in 1797 under the name of Yoshizo. In his youth, he probably assisted his father, providing the designs for the pieces to be dyed, and thus naturally oriented himself towards the world of art. He was accepted as a student by Toyokuni Utagawa in 1814. Later, he founded his own school and his drawings became popular. Famous for his prints of actors and animals (especially cats he adored), he owes his inspiration above all to legends, to the fantastic, poetic and warlike universe of which we find a strong influence in his work. He is the author of 10,000 prints and several series. The great earthquake of 1855, after which, returning home late, he had been given for dead by his family and the members of his workshop, marked the end of his great period. Suffering from illness and depression, he now produced little. He died in Edo in 1861.