The Actors Matsumoto Hyozo as a woman holding an umbrella and Nakamura Shichisaburo I as a young boy

Kiyonobu pairs two leading Edo actors of the Genroku era in this hand-colored hosoban tan-e of around 1700: Matsumoto Hyozo, costumed as a woman carrying an umbrella, and Nakamura Shichisaburo I, performing the role of a young boy. The print captures an aspect of kabuki that modern audiences find startling - the role of the onnagata, the male specialist who plays female parts, which became codified in this period after the shogunate banned women and adolescent boys from the public stage. Matsumoto Hyozo was one such specialist, and Kiyonobu signals his theatrical femininity through the cant of his shoulders and the placement of his hands rather than through anything resembling literal portraiture. The tan-orange wash applied to the umbrella and elements of both costumes anchors the composition visually. This impression is in the Art Institute of Chicago.