Detail View: The AMICA Library: Taira no Atsumori riding a horse into the sea
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AMICA ID:
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AIC_.1939.777
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AMICA Library Year:
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1998
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Object Type:
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Prints
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Creator Name:
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Katsukawa, Shunsho
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Creator Nationality:
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Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
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Creator Dates/Places:
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Japanese; 1726-1792 Asia,East Asia,Japan
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Katsukawa Shunsho
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Title:
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Taira no Atsumori riding a horse into the sea
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Title Type:
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preferred
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View:
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full view
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Creation Date:
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1770
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Creation Start Date:
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1770
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Creation End Date:
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1770
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Materials and Techniques:
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Woodblock print.
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Classification Term:
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Woodblock
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Creation Place:
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Asia,East Asia,Japan
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Dimensions:
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Chu?ban; 24.8 x 19.6 cm
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Art Institute of Chicago
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Owner Location:
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Chicago, Illinois, USA
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ID Number:
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1939.777
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Credit Line:
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The Art Institute of Chicago, Frederick W. Gookin Collection
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Inscriptions:
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SIGNATURE: Katsukawa Shunsho zu
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Rights:
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Context:
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One of the most famous and affecting episodes in the medieval war tale Heike Monogatari tells of the death of Taira no Atsumori, a handsome and innocent young nobleman, at the hands of the Minamoto warrior Kumagai no Jiro Naozane during the battle of Ichinotani in 1184. Realizing that the battle was lost, Atsumori was spurring his horse into the sea toward the safety of the Taira ships, when Kumagai's challenge from the shore forced him, in honor, to turn back. Only when Atsumori lay helmetless and helpless on the ground did Kumagai realize that he held at mercy a mere lad of sixteen or seventeen- no older than his own son Naoie. His instant impulse to spare the boy was foiled by the appearance of other Minamoto troops, who would have killed him without a moment's hesitation or remorse. Nearly paralyzed by grief, and promising to pray for Atsumori's soul, Kumagai struck off Atsumori's head, then wept frantically. Compounding the tragedy, the grief-stricken Kumagai then discovered an antique flute in a brocade bag tucked into Atsumori's sash, and realized that this was the youth who had enchanted both camps with his flute playing at dawn, before the battle.The episode poignantly symbolizes the overthrow of the cultivated nobility of Kyoto by the rough warriors of the provinces. Though one of those same rude warriors, Kumagai himself reflects, 'Among the hundred thousand warriors on our side, there is no one who has carried with him a flute to the battlefield. What a gentle life these nobles and courtiers have led!'Shunsho depicts the moment when Atsumori turns his horse in response to Kumagai's challenge from the shore- a scene he also drew in pillar print (hashira-e) format. The cloth (horo) billowing from Atsumori's shoulders provided some protection against arrows. The placement of the signature on the far right, Atsumori's gaze out of the picture toward the left, and the small waves entering the composition from the left all suggest that this may be the right-hand sheet of a diptych whose other sheetmust have shown Kumagai on horseback on the beach. Another single-sheet chu?ban print by Shunsho depicts the moment when Kumagai has wrestled Atsumori to the ground, pulled off his helmet, and realized with horror that his opponent is just a boy (see 'TheActor's Image' catalogue, fig. 52.1, p.156).Though warrior prints by all leading ukiyo-e artists were in vogue about 1770, the particularly large number of designs showing Atsumori and Kumagai may relate in some way to the performance of a well-receivedKabuki play on the theme of the battle of Ichinotani, Ichinotani Futaba Gunki (Young Sprigs of Ichinotani: A War Tale), at the Ichimura Theater in the sixth (or eighth?) month of 1770.
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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AIC_.E19676.TIF
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