The Ronin Tominomori Suke'emon Masakata; Series: Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Retainers

From Utagawa Kuniyoshi's series Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Retainers, this Edo ukiyo-e print depicts the rōnin Tominomori Sukeemon Masakata, one of the forty-seven samurai of the Akō vendetta. The episode - in which retainers of the disgraced Lord Asano avenged his death by attacking the Edo mansion of Kira Yoshinaka in 1703 - became, under the kabuki title Kanadehon Chūshingura, perhaps the single most influential narrative in Edo culture, generating an enormous body of plays, illustrated books, and woodblock prints. Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) was the foremost designer of warrior prints of the late Edo period and devoted multiple series to the forty-seven rōnin, producing individual sheets for each of the loyal retainers as well as scenes from the vendetta itself. The convention of these series, including Seichū gishi den (Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Retainers), is to present each figure full-length, in dramatic pose, with a cartouche identifying him by name and offering a brief biography or poetic inscription. Kuniyoshi's draftsmanship - assured, muscular, and sensitive to the play of armor, robe, and weapon - is particularly well suited to the genre, drawing on the broader Utagawa school's mastery of figural composition. The work catalogued by ukiyo-e.org (image aggv 18175) provides an example of Kuniyoshi's sustained engagement with the Chūshingura subject and his central role in shaping the late-Edo visual cult of the loyal retainers.