The actors Onoe Kikugoro III as Hayano Kanpei and Mimasu Gennosuke as Enya Hangan

This 1822 oban-format color woodblock print by Utagawa Kunisada depicts the actors Onoe Kikugoro III as Hayano Kanpei and Mimasu Gennosuke as Enya Hangan, two of the major roles from "Kanadehon Chushingura" (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), the great kabuki vendetta drama. The print is in the Art Institute of Chicago. Enya Hangan is the wronged lord whose forced suicide sets the entire vendetta in motion, while Hayano Kanpei is one of the most poignant of the forty-seven retainers, a young samurai who, separated from his lord at the critical moment, lives in disgrace and ultimately commits suicide to atone for his perceived failure. The pairing of these two roles in a single print is dramatically charged: it sets a doomed loyalist (Kanpei) opposite the master whose death he failed to prevent (Enya Hangan). Onoe Kikugoro III, one of the era's most versatile actors, would have brought emotional intensity to Kanpei. Mimasu Gennosuke was a respected supporting tachiyaku. The 1822 dating places the print in Kunisada's earlier signature period as Kunisada and shows the elegant figure work and careful color of his early Bunsei manner. The Art Institute of Chicago's example sits within a long sequence of Kunisada Chushingura prints that collectively span the great drama across his career.