Picture of the Hell Courtesan’s Enlightenment
- Date:
- February 1890
- Medium:
- Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 37.2 × 25.1 cm
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
Description
"Picture of the Hell Courtesan's Enlightenment" (February 1890) depicts the moment when Jigoku Dayū—the Hell Courtesan of Sakai—achieved Buddhist enlightenment after the Zen master Ikkyū Sōjun presented her with a vision of herself as a skeleton. The scene combines the erotic and the macabre in a characteristically Yoshitoshi register, the beautiful courtesan confronting the reality of her own mortality through supernatural vision. The composition echoes Yoshitoshi's sustained interest in figures who achieve spiritual transformation through radical encounter with death.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Picture of the Hell Courtesan’s Enlightenment was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) in February 1890.
Picture of the Hell Courtesan’s Enlightenment depicts bijin-ga.
Picture of the Hell Courtesan’s Enlightenment measures 37.2 × 25.1 cm (Oban format).