Kabuki Actor Print

This print was made by Ichiyōsai Yoshitaki (一養斎芳滝), in December 1869, published by Ishikawaya Wasuke.

It depicts the actor Jitsukawa Enzaburô II (二代目) (1848–1872) playing Ushiwakamaru (実川延三郎) in the play Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki (鬼一法眼三略巻).
Ushiwakamaru is the name of Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189) when he was a teenager, he was a great general during the Heian period.
The play is around the sons of Minamoto Yoshimoto, it is in five acts and ends with the fight between Ushiwakamaru and Benkei (who will become one of these loyal fighters)

Utagawa Yoshitaki (歌川芳滝), whose name by birth is Ichiyōsai Yoshitaki (一養斎 芳滝), born April 13, 1841 and died June 28, 1899, is a print designer in Edo (Tokyo) and Osaka. He is also a painter and newspaper illustrator. The son of a pasta merchant, he was a student of Utagawa Yoshiume (1819–1879). Yoshitaki was the most prolific artist in Osaka from the 1860s to the 1880s, with over 1,200 different prints, almost all of kabuki actors.