Print Ukiyoe Samurai Snow Kabuki Yoshitsune Shogun

This print was made by Chikanobu Toyohara in February 1885, published by Kumajirō Fukuda .

It presents a kabuki play retracing historical facts slightly fictionalized
. It is a triptych in very good condition.
This play is called "1000 years of founding of the Genji or Minamoto clan" which was written by Kawatake Mokuami.

The actors present presented in the order of their appearance are:
Ichikawa Sadanji I as Benkei
Ichikawa Yaojo III as Kataoka Tsuneharu
Kataoka Gado III as Suruga Jiro Kiyoshige
Ichikawa Udanji I as Sado Tadanobu
Onoe Kikugoro V as Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Bando Kakitsu as Kamei Shigekiyo
Ichikawa Ebizo VIII as Ise Saburo Yoshimori

This scene is called "Yoshitsune in danger in the mountains of Yoshino", this echoes with the real story.
Because Minamoto no Yoshitsune is found cornered in these mountains, his brother Yoritomo had sent after him yamabushi "mountain monks" a kind of mountain acete a kind of mystical assassin that one could affiliate with the legendary Ninja.
To gain time on these pursuers he would have given his armor and his to Sado Tadanobu so that they hold them back while Minamoto no Yoshitsune fled with these faithful legendary companions….

Historical legend says that Sado Tadanobu said that he killed many of these enemies alone and was even able to take refuge in Kyoto. This print can be seen as an artistic work in the genre of kabuki-e (theater print) but also as a musha-e (print of warriors) so much it has to depict a historical fact.

Chikanobu Toyohara 豊原周延 (1838-1912), his artist name is also 楊洲周延: Yōshū Chikanobu. He is of the samurai caste and fought alongside the loyalists to the shogun. After the reissue of the shogun, he decided to become an artist in his youth he learned the Kano school. Chikanobu is recognized as a master of bijinga, images of beautiful women, and for his illustrations of the changes in women's fashion, both in traditional clothing and in Western clothing. His works illustrate the changes in hairstyle and makeup over time. He also painted warrior prints