Cleveland Museum of Art

Benevolence, from The Five Virtues

Suzuki HarunobuLinkedCulture matchlcp-b641e8b682cb

Date: 1767
Medium: color woodblock print
Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Department: Japanese Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID: 126689

This print belongs to a series of five depicting the cardinal virtues of Confucianism. In this image, a courtesan demonstrates benevolence by shaving her attendant’s neck. The other virtues are righteousness, decorum, knowledge, and fidelity. A poem at the top reads as follows: "If you would dwell on the path of the heart, / that is kind to others, / then must you not also be someone, / who suppresses even her own name?"

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line: Bequest of Mrs. Madeleine Hamill in memory of Lawrence Hamill
Provenance: ?–1949: Mrs. Madeleine Henderson Hamill [1876–1948], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1949–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

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