Danjūrō VII's Benkei as Fudō Myōō

In this striking 1814 Utagawa Kunisada print, the senior kabuki star Ichikawa Danjuro VII appears in the role of Benkei posed as the wrathful Buddhist deity Fudo Myoo, a quintessentially Edo ukiyo-e yakusha-e conceit that fuses theatrical role, devotional iconography, and family lineage. Fudo Myoo, the immovable king of esoteric Buddhist practice, was the patron deity of the Ichikawa house, and Danjuro VII's identification with Fudo, through the famous play "Naritasan Funjin Fudo" and related works, was a cornerstone of the family's stage identity. Kunisada renders Danjuro VII with the deity's blue-black skin, fierce expression, fanged grimace, and crown of flames, holding the sword and lasso with which Fudo binds delusion and severs ignorance. The hybrid presentation, actor as deity, deity as actor, asks the viewer to read the figure simultaneously as a man performing on the Edo stage and as the embodied power of an esoteric Buddha. As one of Toyokuni I's most accomplished pupils, Kunisada had by 1814 begun to mature into the dominant designer of yakusha-e he would soon become, and this print already shows the assertive line and bold color contrasts that would characterize his later style. The image also documents the close historical relationship between kabuki and popular Buddhism in Edo, in which actors and devotees alike participated. The Metropolitan Museum of Art preserves this impression within its broad collection of Edo ukiyo-e theatrical and devotional prints.