Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿

This triptych presents an Edo-period interpretation of a scene from the beloved 15th-century Tale of Joruri (Joruri monogatari). According to the tale, when Ushiwakamaru (the military leader Minamoto Yoshitsune [1159-1189]) was 16, he chanced upon a gorgeous garden. In it, the beautiful Princess Joruri was playing the zither, accompanied by her ladies on other instruments. Ushiwakamaru joined them on his flute, performing so enchantingly that he was invited inside. Here, Utamaro replaces the historical characters with contemporary courtesans and samurai, playful reworking the classic narrative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RbOwv-qLjQ

Ushiwaka is the youthful name of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1189), one of the great warrior heroes of the late Heian period (794-1185). The story of his love for Joruri is told in the fifteenth-century Tale of Joruri (Joruri monogatari). The figures in this rendition of the story, however, are dressed in Edo-period (1600-1868) costume.

Each panel of this three-part print bears the signature of Utamaro (1753-1806), but if you look carefully you can see that the signature has been tampered with. Stylistically also the print does not agree with Utamaro’s other works, thus the attribution to Eizan.