After a little music, from an untitled series of 12 erotic prints

After a Little Music, from an untitled series of twelve erotic prints in the Art Institute of Chicago, is an [oban](/glossary/oban) sumizuri-e dated circa 1673 to 1681 that captures the characteristic post-musical, intimate atmosphere central to [shunga](/glossary/shunga) narrative. The twelve-print album was the conventional length for erotic series throughout the [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) tradition, and Moronobu was the artist who established this format. The title indicates that the scene depicted is the languorous aftermath of a musical interlude, with samisen or koto laid aside as the figures turn to more intimate pursuits, a narrative trope that recurs throughout subsequent shunga. Printed in single-block black ink, the work demonstrates Moronobu's mature command of figural composition, with the post-performance instruments serving as compositional anchors and the discarded sheet music or instrument case adding the kind of telling domestic detail that gives his erotic prints their distinctive sense of lived intimacy. The textile patterning on the lovers' partially disheveled robes is again the visual focus, exemplifying Moronobu's textile-trained eye and his ability to use pattern as narrative information about social class, fashion, and emotional state.