Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), signed Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga (一勇斎国芳画) Title: Poem by Ki no Tsurayuki: Karukaya Dōshin and Ishidōmaru (紀貫之 刈萱道心 石働丸) Series: Ogura nazorae hyakunin isshu – Ogura Imitations of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets (小倉擬百人一首), No. 35 Date: Japan, c. 1845–48 (late Edo period) Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō (Dansendō) Carver: Hori Fusajirō (彫工房次郎) Text: Ryūkatei Tanekazu (柳下亭種員) Format: Ōban, approx. 36 × 24 cm ________________________________________________ CONDITION All colors retain their original vibrancy. The dark colors are very well preserved. The paper has a very light backing (Edo Paper). Some minor repairs are noted. Please check the images! ________________________________________________ THE SCENE The upper panel carries one of the most famous poems of the classical canon, by the court poet Ki no Tsurayuki (c. 868–945): The depths of the hearts of humankind cannot be known. But in my birthplace the plum blossoms smell the same as in the years gone by. Below it, Kuniyoshi sets the poem against a medieval legend. Katō Shigeuji, a warrior-lord from Tsukushi in Kyushu, gave up his domain, climbed Mount Kōya and became the monk Karukaya Dōshin. Years later his young son Ishidōmaru went searching for him across the mountain. When the boy found him, the father would not reveal who he was. In the end he relented, but made his son promise to keep the truth from his mother. The link to the poem is the theme of a hidden heart: like the speaker in Tsurayuki's verse, the boy cannot know what is truly in his father's mind. The design shows Ishidōmaru pleading with the monk and tugging at his robe, while the father looks down, torn between his vows and his child. ________________________________________________ About the Taiheiki Heroes Series: The Ogura nazorae hyakunin isshu is one of the few series in which the three leading masters of the 1840s worked side by side: Kuniyoshi designed 51 sheets, Hiroshige 35 and Kunisada 14. Instead of portraying the classical poets themselves, each print pairs one of the hundred poems with a scene from history, legend or kabuki, and the viewer is invited to work out the connection, almost like a riddle. A short narrative text on each sheet tells the story behind the picture. Kuniyoshi's contributions are known for their strong figure compositions and storytelling, and each sheet joins a classical poem to a dramatic tale.