Courtesan Jigoku-dayu

The courtesan Jigoku-dayu (Hell Courtesan) was a historical figure from the fifteenth century said to have been so moved by the Buddhist monk Ikkyu's unruffled attention to the spectacle of her profession that she underwent a spiritual transformation. Depicted in art wearing a robe covered with images of the Buddhist hell realms, she became an emblem of the paradoxical coexistence of erotic display and spiritual depth. Gekko's rendering would have exploited the visual richness of her famous hell-patterned robe.