The Courtesans Somenosuke and Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from the series "A Mirror of Courtesans of the Pleasure Quarters (Seiro yukun awase kagami)"

The Courtesans Somenosuke and Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from the series A Mirror of Courtesans of the Pleasure Quarters (Seirō yūkun awase kagami), is a color woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro of about 1792 in the Art Institute of Chicago. The Matsubaya was one of the most celebrated brothels of the Yoshiwara, and its high-ranking courtesans were among the most photographed and described personalities of the pleasure quarter, with woodblock prints functioning as both fashion plates and stand-ins for the women themselves. Utamaro pairs Somenosuke and Kisegawa in his characteristic close, intimate format, allowing comparison of their faces, hairstyles, and robes within a single composition. The two women are differentiated by the patterning of their kimono and the arrangement of their hair, but Utamaro shows them as members of the same elite class, sharing in the bearing and poise that defined a Matsubaya courtesan. The series title's invocation of a mirror is appropriate, both because the prints offered audiences a reflective image of the Yoshiwara's most desirable women and because Utamaro's Edo bijin-ga used the format of paired portraits to set up comparisons and contrasts that drew viewers more deeply into the social rankings of the quarter. The sheet at the Art Institute of Chicago is a strong example of his command of ukiyo-e portraiture and of the publisher's print culture that turned named individuals into widely distributed images of feminine ideal.