Actor Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Kazusa Akushichibyōe in Kagekiyo, from the series The Eighteen Great Kabuki Plays (Kabuki Jūhachi-ban)

A large close-up head-and-shoulders portrait dominates the upper composition: an actor in bold *kumadori* kabuki makeup, with red and black lines sweeping across a white face, arched black brows, a scowling mouth, and a shock of black hair, set against a pale green ground; he wears a robe with a large pink and green floral/geometric collar. Below, in a separate framed panel with a mustard-yellow ground, a second actor's face in softer, unlined makeup looks over his shoulder against a blue patterned garment and a round white medallion inscribed with a red character. A black title cartouche with Japanese text tops the sheet, with vertical inscriptions, a red seal, and the artist's signature at right identifying the work as Torii Kiyosada's 1895 woodblock print (nishiki-e) of Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Kazusa Akushichibyōe in *Kagekiyo*, from the series *The Eighteen Great Kabuki Plays*.