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Picture of the Young Yoshitsune Learning Martial Arts at Mt. Kurama, from the series Sketches by Yoshitoshi

Picture of the Young Yoshitsune Learning Martial Arts at Mt. Kurama, from the series Sketches by Yoshitoshi

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Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Minamoto no Yoshitsune is one of Japan’s most famous warriors. After the Taira clan killed his father in 1160, Yoshitsune lived protected in a temple on Mt. Kurama outside of Kyoto. Here, young Yoshitsune is learning martial arts and magic from the tengu king Daisojobo. Patrons of the martial arts, Tengu are Buddhist mountain goblins with magical powers and distinctive long noses. The white-haired, red-robed Daisojobo is drawn in profile to highlight his characteristic nose. Yoshitsune, dressed in the costume of a high-ranking courtier, leaps high with sword raised as the tengu king waves a cherry blossom branch under his feet. The fragile, short-lived cherry blossoms symbolize the fleeting life of a Japanese samurai and foreshadow Yoshitsune’s untimely demise.
Artist
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
(Japanese, 1839 - 1892)
Title
Picture of the Young Yoshitsune Learning Martial Arts at Mt. Kurama, from the series Sketches by Yoshitoshi
Date
1886
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
355 x 470 mm Image
Credit
John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
2004.51a-b
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 214, no. 210

  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/2/2009–11/26/2009
  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 : Chazen Museum of Art, 3/21/2008–6/15/2008
  • Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/3/2007–1/6/2008

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