The actor Bando Mitsugoro III as Minamoto no Yorimasa

This is the right sheet of a shikishiban-format triptych surimono of about 1820 by Utagawa Kunisada, depicting Bando Mitsugoro III in the role of Minamoto no Yorimasa, the historical warrior-poet who in legend killed the chimerical nue that menaced the imperial palace. The print is held in the Art Institute of Chicago and represents one panel of a coordinated three-sheet design that also includes Segawa Kikunojo V as Ayame no Mae (center) and Ichikawa Danjuro VII as I no Hayata (left). Surimono are luxury limited-edition prints commissioned by poetry circles and private patrons, characterized by refined technique including metallic pigments, embossing (karazuri), and richly layered color. As an individual sheet of a triptych, this design centers entirely on Yorimasa, with Bando Mitsugoro III rendered in heroic stance, the actor's particular facial features and the character's military equipment carefully detailed in Kunisada's early Bunsei-era manner. Bando Mitsugoro III (1775-1831) was one of the great kabuki actors of the late 1810s and 1820s, equally celebrated in tachiyaku (leading male) and onnagata roles. Kunisada designed many prints featuring him over the course of the actor's career. The Art Institute of Chicago's holding of this and the companion sheets allows the triptych to be studied both as a unified composition and as three discrete portraits, a flexibility that reflects how the surimono format was used in nineteenth-century Edo.