Tadanobu, from the series "Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue)"

Tadanobu is a Meiji woodblock print by Tsukioka Kogyo, published in 1893 in Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue). The play dramatizes Sato Tadanobu, the loyal retainer who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune, defending his lord while the warrior fled the wrath of his brother Yoritomo. As a warrior play, Tadanobu calls for vigorous choreography and elaborate armor, all of which Kogyo records with the disciplined detachment of noh-e. The composition follows convention: a low ground line, restrained setting and concentrated focus on the costumed figure, faithful to the bare cedar stage. The keyblock outline preserves the angular posture and silhouette of the armor, while overprinted patterns and selective [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations build the brocade and lacing of the warrior's costume. Restrained earth tones, accents of vermilion and muted indigo evoke the gravity of the role without overwhelming the figure. Kogyo, a pupil of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and Ogata Gekko, observed actual performances during the Meiji noh revival, drawing on direct access to rehearsals at the [Hosho](/glossary/hosho) and Kanze schools. Pictures of No Performances was his first dedicated noh-e series and established the visual vocabulary later expanded in One Hundred No Dramas. Issued by Matsuki Heikichi, it gave educated Meiji patrons a printed window onto a tradition that had been at risk after the Restoration. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this impression among its broader Kogyo collection, where it serves as an authoritative example of late nineteenth-century theatrical Meiji woodblock printing. Source: Art Institute of Chicago (https://www.artic.edu/artworks/155315).