Artist unknown
Japanese
Parody of the Story of Narukami
INV-4424
Artist unknown
Japanese1765
Parody of the Story of Narukami
Artist unknown Japanese →Japanese (culture or style)woodblock printprint
Date
1765
Medium
Color woodblock print; chuban
Dimensions
18.1 × 27 cm (7 1/8 × 10 5/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Clarence Buckingham Collection
The subject of this print is a parody of the Kabuki play Narukami. In the story, a priest magically imprisons a demon within a waterfall. A woman seduces the priest to learn his secret and breaks the spell. Here, the priest is represented by a young man who holds a bell used by pilgrims. Behind him is the roaring waterfall.
In this print, the imperial reign name and cyclical name for the year are written in the grassy slope. Numbers of the long months of the year form the outlines on his robe, and those for the short months form the woman’s garment.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
