Daikoku, God of Health, Personified by a Courtesan of the Shimabara, Kyoto
- Date:
- 1952
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
Description
"Daikoku, God of Health, Personified by a Courtesan of the Shimabara, Kyoto" (1952) depicts a Shimabara courtesan dressed as Daikoku — one of Japan's Seven Gods of Luck, associated with wealth and good fortune — combining the tradition of bijin-ga figure portraiture with the iconography of Japanese mythology. The Shimabara pleasure district in Kyoto was one of Japan's historic entertainment quarters, and Jacoulet's use of a courtesan to embody a god creates a layered composition that plays formal costume drama against the underlying humanity of the sitter.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Daikoku, God of Health, Personified by a Courtesan of the Shimabara, Kyoto was created by Paul Jacoulet (ポール・ジャクレー) in 1952.
Daikoku, God of Health, Personified by a Courtesan of the Shimabara, Kyoto depicts bijin-ga, set at Kyoto.