The actors Ichikawa Danjuro VII as Mongaku and Matsumoto Koshiro V as Fudo Myoo
- Date:
- c. 1829/32
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; vertical shikishiban diptych, surimono
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Published in 1824 and now in the Art Institute of Chicago, this Utagawa Toyokuni print pairs Ichikawa Danjuro VII as the warrior-monk Mongaku with Matsumoto Koshiro V as the wrathful Buddhist deity Fudo Myoo. The composition draws on a richly layered tradition within Edo [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) [yakusha-e](/glossary/yakusha-e) in which leading actors are depicted in religiously charged roles, half stage character and half iconographic figure. Mongaku, the historical monk associated with austerity beneath waterfalls and political intrigue, was a favored role for the Ichikawa line; Fudo Myoo, the immovable deity of esoteric Buddhism, was likewise long linked with Danjuro family stagecraft, making this pairing a knowing nod to kabuki family lore. Toyokuni stages the two figures with strong vertical energy, balancing the elaborate robes of the monk against the flaming halo and rope-bound iconography of the deity. His drawing emphasizes the actors' identifiable likenesses, ensuring that even within these mythic guises the audience would recognize the men beneath the makeup. The Art Institute's record places the work within Toyokuni's late, confident period, when his treatment of religious and historical figures was deeply informed by his decades of theater publishing. As both a commercial souvenir of a specific kabuki production and an example of religiously inflected yakusha-e, the sheet shows how thoroughly Edo ukiyo-e could merge devotional imagery with celebrity portraiture.
early 1830s
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
1796
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
1769–1825
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
The actors Ichikawa Danjuro VII as Mongaku and Matsumoto Koshiro V as Fudo Myoo was created by Utagawa Toyokuni I (歌川豊国) in c. 1829/32.
The actors Ichikawa Danjuro VII as Mongaku and Matsumoto Koshiro V as Fudo Myoo depicts sumo.
