Art Institute of Chicago

Act 1 (Daijo), from the series "The Revenge of the Loyal Retainers (Chushingura)"

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Date: c. 1834/39
Medium: Color woodblock print; oban
Culture: Japan
Department: Arts of Asia
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago

Hiroshige’s series of sixteen prints is the best known ukiyo-e of the Chushingura story. He increased the last act by illustrating six scenes, enhancing the dramatic impact of the end of the story. The publisher added a frame to each image, showing a repeat of Kuranosuke’s tomo-e (family crest): double commas within a circle. This was to honor the leader of the forty-seven ronin both in history and in the play. The frames also enhance the theatrical nature of each scene and make the viewer become the audience for scenes from the play. The artist also used perspective techniques employed in his famous Tokaido series of landscapes.

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Object type: AAT300041273

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